The Chameleons are currently on tour throughout North America, performing their groundbreaking 1986 album Strange Times in its entirety. They’ve also recently released a new EP of music, featuring the single, Where Are You?

SNAPSHOT REVIEW below.

This hugely influential act has inspired the likes of The Verve, Oasis, White Lies, The Slow Readers Club, Interpol, The Killers and Editors, among countless others. Their transformative musical catalog and intense and emotionally charged live performances, have created a legacy that extends far beyond their four studio albums. Following their debut single In Shreds in 1982, the band released three seminal albums: the widely acclaimed Script of the Bridge (1983), its follow-up What Does Anything Mean? Basically!’ (1984), Strange Times (1986), and Why Call It Anything? (2001).

 

Celebrating their 1986 breakthrough album Strange Times, which spawned the singles Tears and the alt-rock club staple Swamp Thing, The Chameleons have been playing the album in its entirety on this current tour, which stops in Toronto on August 13th, 2024 at The Opera House, which is an awesome venue to catch live acts at.

“I initially wasn’t a huge fan of album performance tours,” vocalist/bassist Mark Burgess admits. “I believed instead that they ought to have been confined to one-off, special events. However, 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!”

Their new single Where Are You?, their first new music in over 20 years, has generated lots of excitement on both sides of the Atlantic. The EP landed the band a spot in the Top Five of UK’s Physical Singles chart – a first ever for the band. “It’s exciting to finally be putting out fresh material for the first time in over twenty years, although initially I found it quite daunting,” he admits. 

Where Are You? was produced by Christophe Bride and The Chameleons and mastered by Guy Massey. It was released on May 24, 2024, via Metropolis Records in conjunction with Strange Times Entertainment.

SNAPSHOT REVIEW

The Chameleons are a very underrated 1980s UK band who have survived four decades in the music industry on the strength of their ability to continue creating songs of substance, and one fabulous alternative dance club hit, Swamp Thing. However, they are no one-hit wonder band, as they’re still releasing powerful new tracks today. This current tour saw the band perform their entire 1986 Strange Times album in its entirety, which included the aforementioned underground track, and they also performed a few other rarities, a couple of new tracks, and some interesting song sampling from other bands if you were listening closely enough.

Performing at the intimate Opera House venue was perfect, both in size and sound, with the place pretty much at capacity with an attentive crowd in attendance. Once they finished performing Strange Times from start to finish, they delved into some tracks from Script of the Bridge, and their debut single release, In Shreds, along with the title track off their most recent release, Where Are You? For any Beatles fans in attendance, Mark Burgess and the band slid in a few riffs from both Rain and Eleanor Rigby, along with a snippet of The Smiths’ There Is A Light That Never Goes Out.

There wasn’t much conversation between songs, but Mark did take time to deliver some positive energy in the room commenting on how we should all be making the best of what we can during our short time here on earth. Most definitely a worthy band to see 40 years onward, and by the look of the brisk sales at the merch table after the show, there were more than a few fans who were in agreement.

Opening Acts – Ace of Wands and A Cloud of Ravens

The Chameleons are Reg Smithies (guitar), Mark Burgess (bass, vocals, lyrics), Stephen Rice (guitar), Danny Ashberry (keyboards), and Todd Demma (drums). 

The Chameleons – Presented by Embrace Presents

August 13, 2024 – The Opera House, 735 Queen Street East. Tickets

About the Author

Bryen Dunn is a freelance journalist with a focus on travel, lifestyle, entertainment and hospitality. He has an extensive portfolio of celebrity interviews with musicians, actors and other public personalities. He enjoys discovering delicious eats, tasting spirited treats, and being mesmerized by musical beats.