Born from a high school friendship, The Chance is the product of years of tooling around on instruments and mucking with the lineup. As they stand today, the band is Joshua Padgett on lead guitar and vocals, Viraj DeSilva on drums and Finley Martin on bass. The band’s gone through several incarnations over the years, but Padgett and DeSilva are the constants. They grew up together, cultivating a friendship and learning how to play. As The Chance started to grow into a real deal band, they played a lot with locals Gist, and even recorded a split 7″ together. With Gist now scattered over a few states and The Chance in need of a bassist, they took Martin on loan and formed the band as it is today. Constant giggers and gaining favor among local media, the band’s a mainstay on the local venue circuit, so we felt it was time we gave The Chance a gander.

We took in a set from The Chance at the Black Cat’s back stage recently and were pleased to find a polished live act that’s lots of fun. The thin weeknight crowd was made up mostly of friends and fans, but that made for a friendly crowd that got excited for each song. The Chance bring a really rich sound to the floor. DeSilva’s technique could only be described as power drumming; he drums with his whole body with energetic, pounding results. Think Dave Grohl. It’s strange that I say that, because I also noticed some heavy-handed Foo Fighters-era Grohl influence in Padgett’s guitar playing. His vocals, however, lean more towards the post-punk monotone stylings of people like Interpol’s Paul Banks. The Chance offer up some pretty straight forward rock with the tease of some new ideas in the background. I’m looking forward to hearing how their sound plays out on future recordings; they’ve definitely got the ability and the drive to do some interesting things. Or, if you’re feeling punny, a heck of a chance.