Written by: Stefny
Wednesday night I had to ditch the membership drive at the station (SORRY, KOOP!) but it was for a good reason – catching Chvrches‘ lead singer Lauren Mayberry‘s solo set with supporting act Cult of Venus at Scoot Inn.
(Full disclosure – Lauren Mayberry is who I want to be when I grow up. Dual degree in law and journalism and fronts a successful synth pop band? Come on now.)
Scoot is no doubt one of my favourite venues in this city, and I’m so glad the weather cooperated that night.
Opening up the show was Cult of Venus, a one-woman powerhouse from an anonymous multi-instrumentalist and vocalist equipped with a guitar, synth, and a loop pedal.
The 6-song set from Cult of Venus was electrifying and enthralling and I can’t wait to see what she does from here.
Lauren Mayberry, heretofore known as the lead singer of Chvrches, came out with a bang for her first solo show ever in Austin. She put on an absolute master class of performance, even deftly incorporating the ledge at the front of the stage like she’s been performing there every day of her life.
In total she played all 12 songs from her debut record Vicious Creature as well as a killer cover of “Bittersweet Symphony.”
At one point, while talking about being punk (I think it was in reference to doing her own hair and makeup and how her face stickers were falling off), she made reference to the inventor of punk music, Avril Lavigne.
“That’s a whole different show, where we dissect the lyrics of Let Go by Avril Lavigne.”
The tracks ranged from standard pop fare to indie to synth to acoustic and everything in between, with the crowd engaged in every song.
I’m so glad I got to see this show in such an intimate venue and I can’t wait for either of them to come back!
All photos in this article are by me (obviously).