'Chambers' Celebrate Record Release at Maxwell’s

As Chambers took the stage late Saturday night at Maxwells, it was evident this would be a record release party like no other. A mosh pit soon formed a few feet from the stage while frontman Dan Pelic told the crowd, "Come closer. I promise I won't hurt you."

Together for just more than a year, Chambers' debut album, Old Love is aggressive rock & roll with heavy vocals and ear-grabbing guitar riffs. The goal was to make a record that captured the band's live sound, and after witnessing their performance Saturday, it was obvious this was accomplished.

Their set started with the energetic first track off the album, "Pig." Pelic quickly joined fans on the floor while the guitarists alternated leaping offstage to play in the pit. All the while, concertgoers jumped on their backs and pushed each other around the room.

"While everything is happening around me and people are jumping on me and whatnot, aside from physically dealing with the onslaught, I am thinking about the meaning behind each line that I am singing," Pelic said, about how to deal with the intensity of the band's set. "If I just sang the words, I wouldn't be half as into it. But when I'm remembering and reliving what I went through to need to write those words, I explode."

While Old Love was just released last Tuesday, it has already garnered rave reviews. Pelic feels it's the band's diverse musical background that continues to win over listeners.

"We're still refreshingly different in the sense that we're rock & roll played heavily with extremely hard vocals over it. I come from a much heavier background rooted in hardcore, punk and metal and everybody else has more of an aggressive rock & roll background. I think that's our secret, just combining heaviness in one portion and the other portion being something with more swagger and rock & roll with sleaze."

As Pelic introduced the title track, "Old Love," he told the crowd, "This song goes out to everyone that was at our first show ever." With gritty guitar and impassioned vocals, the song's underlying meaning is more positive than the hard musical accompaniment lets on.

Pelic explained that "Old Love" is about being hung-up on somebody. "It's about making a real strong sexual connection with someone that it's just so ridden with ecstasy that you forget."

Throughout their set, Pelic could often be found in the pit handing the mic to fans to scream along. "The Nest" was no exception. With darker percussion and endless guitar riffs, the audience ate up every note.

Chambers ended their set with the last track on Old Love, "Tragedy." It's the hardest song for the band to play live, Pelic said before the show, and when he told the crowd during the encore that the song would be the final one of the night, his band members shook their heads in disbelief.  

 "'Tragedy' is my personal opus," Pelic said. "I wrote that in a hospital bed when I was going out with somebody who was absolutely robotic and terrible. Wouldn't even come visit me while I was hospitalized. That song is a symbolic last straw. That song to me is really heartfelt," he said.

From the very first note the crowd realized just how fierce the track is. "Make a circle pit for this one," Pelic instructed the floor and they obeyed. The most vigorous song of the evening, the percussion and guitar accompaniment quickened the pace as Pelic screamed the words passionately.

As Chambers continues to promote their debut release, Pelic says critical acclaim isn't important.

"What matters most is getting people to watch you. We feel that every single show we play, we nab a couple of new fans no matter where it is, be it here or out of state."

And, that's all he asks for.

"We want to be successful without compromising ourselves," Pelic says. "Whether we get somewhere or we don't, all I want is a couple people singing along."