Preview by Steve Cooke
Middleton’s The Chameleons are recognized as a profoundly influential force in music, having left their mark on bands like The Verve, Oasis, White Lies, The Slow Readers Club, Interpol, The Killers, and Editors, among many others. Known for their deep and powerful live shows and their impact stretches well beyond their four studio albums.
The Chameleons’ distinctive sound captured the public’s attention with its unique blend of melancholy yet robust and dynamic tunes, entrancing ethereal guitar riffs, and poignant, enduring lyrical themes. The Chameleons are celebrated as one of the pivotal guitar-driven groups of the ’80s and ’90s, making significant contributions to the post-punk, shoegaze, and indie genres. Despite their broad influence, they remain one of our most undervalued musical exports.
While their last studio album came out over two decades ago, in a surprise move, the band is currently on tour and has released brand new single, Where Are You.
“It’s exciting to finally be putting out fresh Chameleons material for the first time in over twenty years, although initially I found it quite daunting,” admits vocalist/bassist Mark Burgess. “The question about new music is one I had been asked the most from people coming to the shows, a great many of whom weren’t even born when those records were originally made but nevertheless were excited and inspired by the music enough to catch multiple shows on multiple tours.”
Currently on a round of North American dates that began on May 30th in San Diego and working their way East to Washington, DC on August 17th, the band are celebrating their 1986 breakthrough album Strange Times, which spawned the singles Tears and the alt-rock club staple Swamp Thing.
“I initially wasn’t a huge fan of album performance tours,” Burgess admits. “I believed instead that they ought to have been confined to one-off, special events.” Marking the difference between the highly personal experience of enjoying an album alone with a “good pair of headphones” versus the collective social coming together at a concert, he muses that, in general, the track listing of an album doesn’t take into account a live show’s needs for crest and drama. “Performing Strange Times changed my mind,” he says. “For one thing, the album marked a significant evolution by the band both in its sound and the maturity of the writing. Secondly, it’s a challenging album to perform live and thus, it’s much more fun to play. When all is said and done, we look forward to recreating this particular album for our North American fans!”
The current Chameleons are Reg Smithies (guitar), Mark Burgess (bass, vocals, lyrics), Stephen Rice (guitar), Danny Ashberry (keyboards), and Todd Demma (drums).
Steve Coogan, a Middleton’s TV and Film comedy legend, says "It’s great to see The Chameleons helping to bring arts, mutual support, and activism together again in Middleton’s ‘Summer of M24’."
The festival is organised by Middleton Co-operating, a community-led organisation dedicated to benefiting the people of the M24 postcode.
Mark Fraser, founding director of the Community Benefit Society, emphasised the importance of the event, saying, “Our mantra is all about strengthening the identity of Middletonians by acting as a catalyst organisation in M24. We’re crazily ambitious at Middleton Co-operating and want to promote community wealth-building in any way, shape, or form. From the old Middleton Civic Hall, which saw bands from The Smiths to The Jam, to The Beatles playing Middleton Co-op Hall, we’ve got loads to celebrate but not many places to celebrate it. So why not give the tools to our brilliant pubs, cafes, and community centres to turn themselves into small music venues? This is the perfect way to encourage and nurture Middleton’s next generation of musicians.”
Steve Coogan, recently speaking at Middleton Arena as part of the Middleton Co-operating Launch emphasised Middleton's rich heritage in the arts and community activism: “From local writer and poet Sam Bamford leading 6,000 Middleton people to Peterloo in 1819, to Jim Allen’s plays and Raining Stones, to the music of the Mock Turtles and the Courteeners, we have a heritage to celebrate.
You can catch them AT SUMMER OF M24 - Middleton’s Community Wealth Building Festival. With support acts from M24.
All proceeds will go towards grass roots music/venue development in Middleton including supplying PA systems across budding venues in Middleton, bolstering the local music scene.
Summer of M24 Presents – CHAMELEONS + Middleton Supports.
This event will be a standing/partially seated, all admitted with one standard ticket per customer.
Tickets from £33.00
Saturday 31 August 2024
6.30pm – doors open 6.pm
Middleton Arena, Lance Corporal Joel Halliwell VC Way, Middleton, Manchester M24 1AG
4h 30m
Comments