“Thank you for coming out tonight on a, erm, uh, Wednesday” chips in drummer, Gretchen. Chastity Belt arrive slightly flagged and dog-eared tonight. Gretchen has a broken shoulder, and Annie Truscott on bass has a broken foot. You’d expect this to completely derail a band’s set and open this up for a review full of well-intentioned jabs. This really wasn’t the case and just goes to show what troopers Chastity Belt are. These problems are only apparent as the band announces them – otherwise they’re completely unnoticeable and what’s more their set was fantastic.

The Green Door is full to capacity tonight, so much so that a few very unlucky crowd members are having to watch from beyond the doorway. It takes a moment to adjust when they start playing. Their music is light and from their latest album I Used to Spend So Much Time Alone, slightly moodier. They really do manage to capture the feeling of being chewed up incredibly well and in their voicing of it, make the most alienated feel less alone. This transfers to a live venue with ease, there’s a bit more grit to the music and a little more unease. The way that frontwoman Julia Shapiro addresses the crowd tonight is hazy almost as if she’s unsure of her own words.

The band have a calm energy to their live performance. There’s no throwing around or over egging it. They stay true to themselves and keep their energy in tune with the music. Tracks like ‘Different Now’ and ‘Pussy Weed Beer’ get a huge response from the audience and they respectfully cling to the music as it’s played. Their set is a good balance of tracks from I Used to Spend So Much Time Alone as well as cuts from their past albums.

The band merge with Gang frontman for ‘Stuck’ where Julia and Gretchen swap duties, however Gretchen’s broken shoulder means Gang’s frontman takes the role. It’s a nice moment between the two bands and they take a moment to thank Gang and praise them as their tour companions. There’s clearly a good rapport between the two bands and they get another round of applause which they deserve. Gang were truly excellent supports. They’re the counter opposite to whatever spectrum Chastity Belt are on but nonetheless serve as a great contrast.

‘Used to Spend’ is the moment when I’m properly blown away tonight. Hearing it live elevated it above the recording and the brooding mood on the song comes forward. There’s a sort of snarl in the vocal which makes the chorus line “I used to spend so much time alone” so much more powerful. As the title track, it encapsulates the album and shows where the band are at musically. For me, it’s my favourite song of theirs, although I only came to this conclusion after hearing it live. It’s a song that, if willing, will really crack you open to the core and, as Julia sings laying it bare, you’ll find yourself feeling less alone in the world.

I think that’s the magic to Chastity Belt’s music, it’s an honesty that goes beyond the words. In sound they capture the feelings they want to convey which makes their music so easily relatable. It’s reading the diary from someone you wish you were, you find yourself understanding, or believing you understand their way of thinking, relating and learning from it.

They come on for a genuine encore that doesn’t seem planned and begin to take requests. Everyone in the crowd has clearly taken something away from the show and are just heckling them with their own song names. I don’t think anyone could disagree about how fantastic the band’s set was. For me, I’m incredibly thankful I got to be there, I think everyone in the room was too.

Chris Middleton

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