Gig Review: Chappaqua Wrestling at The Bodega

Chappaqua Wrestling formed in 2018 when Jake Mac and Charlie Woods bonded over their love of music at university in Manchester. Since then, with the addition of Coco Varda (keys) and John-Paul Townsend (drums), the band have been gearing up to their debut album Plus Ultra, which was released last month. Now, they are taking the album on the road across the UK, including a show at The Bodega in Nottingham.

The crowd was a bit thin on the ground when support band Nature TV took to the stage, but they put on a great performance, nonetheless. Their bright indie-pop is an easy and pleasant listen, and even though their songs blended into each other a little bit during their set, this was probably because I was only hearing them for the first time. They are returning to Nottingham in October for a gig at The Chameleon, so I recommend you check them out there.

Slowed down slightly by technical difficulties, Chappaqua Wrestling started their set with Kulture, an unexpected choice since they had started the previous shows of the tour with Fair Game. Later learning that they had to cut the setlist down due to these aforementioned technical difficulties, this also led to the unfortunate removal of Not In Love, which features vocals from Coco and is a highlight of Plus Ultra.

But this didn’t hinder them from putting on a great show, albeit a slightly shorter one than the crowd were hoping for. Speaking of the crowd, they weren’t the liveliest bunch, perhaps hit by a spell of midweek tiredness on the warm Wednesday evening. That didn’t reflect anything negative on Chappaqua Wrestling’s behalf though. They rattled through almost the entirety of Plus Ultra, demonstrating just how strong the album is.

Prefacing Wide Asleep by telling us how important the song is to them, it proved to be a great sing-along moment for the crowd, who chanted “worry ‘bout your present then your future’s fine” repeatedly with the band. It’s refreshing to hear a song about disconnecting from the online realm and living in the moment – something that live music should enforce. It was received by a crowd who weren’t glued to their phone screens filming every moment of the show; they clearly understood the message.

Another highlight of the set was My Fall, which flowed seamlessly into the track’s second half, My Fall II, a more introspective, melancholier moment from the album. The instrumental-led track was the quietest moment of the evening, and it seemed that the crowd fell under a spell momentarily, mesmerised by the beauty of the guitars when the other layers were stripped back.

The band closed the evening with two songs that were released before Plus Ultra – the shoegaze-infused singles Football and The Rift. Despite Plus Ultra being the body of work that got me invested in the band, while also marking the moment where I feel they truly found their direction, I was pleasantly surprised to find that these songs were a highlight of the set, ending the evening with a burst of energy.

The only downfall was, as I have already acknowledged, the short length of the performance. This was not any fault of the band themselves, of course, but I was left wanting more and I was far from ready to go home. On the bright side, that is a testament to the great show that Chappaqua Wrestling put on, and I will no doubt be back to get another fix when they return to Nottingham in the future. 

Chappaqua Wrestling performed at The Bodega on 24 May 2023

bodeganottingham.com