Jax: The Chameleons at Jack Rabbits (April 26, 2026)

April 26, 2026 Sunday
The Chameleons
with The Veldt
at Jack Rabbits
jaxlive.com

Manchester’s Chameleons is headlining Jack Rabbits, in Jacksonville, in support of their latest album Arctic Moon (Metropolis Records). You can read our review of the record here.

We saw the band in November 2024 and wrote, “Despite the absence of Dave Fielding and missing drummer John Lever (who died in 2017), the band faithfully reprised their seminal album, with many in the crowd still remembering the old lyrics enough to sing along, especially on singles “Mad Jack” (which opens the record), first single, “Tears” and second side opener, “Swamp Thing”. Although the band was well-known in Europe and the UK, they missed many radars in the US compared to their Manchester cohorts of the day- i.e. The Smiths, Joy Division/New Order, The Stone Roses- perhaps due to Strange Times not being available on CD until seven years later, in 1993. The post-punk punch that begins the album does wane towards its end, towards the gentler and retrospective, as on “Childhood” and “I’ll Remember”, but energy again increased as the band played its brand-new song, “Where are You?”, released in May as a three-song EP via Metropolis Records. It’s also the first single from a planned new forthcoming full album, “Arctic Moon” and brought momentum up one last time before the encore.”

The Veldt was previously announced will be the support for this North American tour. We haven’t seen the band since March 2017 when they opened for Phantogram: “The evening began with a welcome return of experimental shoegazing soul band The Veldt and a too brief thirty-five minute set that truly showed their music was ahead of its time. Formed in the mid-80’s in Raleigh, NC, the group led by the Chavis brothers (Daniel and Danny) have influences that lean from Prince to Echo and the Bunnymen, Otis Redding to My Bloody Valentine, and were on labels like Capitol, Mammoth, and Mercury during the ‘90s. Layered experimental sounds coming from artists like The Weeknd, Anderson .Paak and Miguel, are just catching up to what The Veldt was exploring twenty years prior.”

Tour Dates