Scottish synth-pop band Chvrches brought an electric performance on Wednesday Dec. 1 to the House of Blues in Boston, a recent stop on a tour to promote their latest album, “Screen Violence.” 

The band has been on their current tour, titled after the album, since Nov. 9. “Screen Violence” released on Aug. 27, 2021. 

Chvrches’ special guest and opening act Donna Missal was praised by concertgoers with an energy that matched what was offered to the headlining band—a phenomenon I have found to be uncommon at concerts.

The audience’s hungry excitement for Missal is made particularly inexplicable by the over 4 million listener disparity between the two bands’ monthly Spotify listeners. The surprise of this excitement quickly melts away when witnessing Missal’s ability to cover ground on stage, engage with her audience by fixing her attention to individual crowd members, and her use of call and response. 

Chvrches’ lead singer, Lauren Mayberry, flawlessly matched Missal’s lively performance. Mayberry assuredly held the band’s title as the headliner with both her vocals and flurry of physicality across the stage.

Mayberry entered with attitude and in spite of the silken vocals and poppy synth sounds, the singer performed in a tidal of spins and kicks that would put staples of heavier genres of music to shame.

She maintained a studio quality vocal performance, the best of which included the band’s songs “The Mother We Share” and “Forever.”

Mayberry’s attentiveness to the audience bled through her performance. This attentiveness was proven when Chvrches had to stop their performance to address an audience member in need of emergency care.

While urging security to hurry, the singer went so far as to offer one of her band’s personal, reusable water bottles to the fan in need. 

Despite the alarm, the band was able to get the evening back on track with the agenda of charging up the audience with invigorating music. The audience returned to shouting lyrics, and remained fixed on Mayberry’s every move. The synth saturated music dominated a packed venue. 

The band’s glittery and voltaic appeal was accented by a colorful stage design. Reminiscent of Nine Inch Nails, some of the concert’s most powerful moments were backlit by massive screens which stretched from floor to ceiling, and flashed between a litany of images, furthering the ideas conjured by the tour’s title, “Screen Violence.” 

Whether Chvrches is a band in your regular music shuffle or not, they undoubtedly put on a show that will get anyone to move. They are a fun band that makes fun music, for the people who enjoy it. They perform this music, however, for anyone who is enamored with the art of performance.