I stood amidst a crowd of teenagers and twenty-somethings lining the outside wall of Neumo’s, clad in rain boots and hooded jackets to protect themselves from the rain. With how stuffy the show got during the performances, those jackets didn’t stay on for long. We had all gathered on Capitol Hill this especially wet Saturday for Two Door Cinema Club at Neumo’s for their final US show with Funeral Party and the Generationals opening.
The place was already plenty crowded to where I could take off my coat. Thankfully I’d settled near the one door that the bouncers open periodically for ventilation. Just after nine, almost right on time, Funeral Party took the stage with their vigorous brand of dance punk. I’m not sure how long Funeral Party were up on stage, but they surely made the most of it, playing like the stage was just for them, which made for a fantastic opening slot. And being that it was an all-ages show on a Saturday, they crowd was quite perceptive to their tunes – at times employing a cowbell. Cue Christopher Walken voice in your head.
After a short break, New Orleans’ own the Generationals stepped up, and at this point Neumo’s was brimming on full. It was a sold out show, after all.
The Generationals are cute. Almost to a saccharine level of sweet, but the retro rock feel kept the songs far from annoying. And it’s always nice to see a vocally talented girl drummer – Tess Brunet. In fact, she proved to be quite hardcore. At one point her knuckles started to bleed, and she kept on drumming without complaining. It was singer/guitarist Grant Widmer that brought it up. Funnily enough, someone in the crowd had bandaids on hand.
Of all things to carry around with you, bandaids?
I can’t remember what her name was, who gave Tess the bandaid, but after that the Generationals dedicated their next song to the Good Samaritan with the bandaid. Their set was pleasant and incredibly catchy pop with a signature southern sound I’ve found myself liking more and more lately. I instantly fell in love with it.
After the Generationals ended their set by giving a round of high fives to the kids reaching out all across the stage, the pubescent crowd grew more anxious during the intermission.
But surprisingly we didn’t have to wait very long for the young band of northern Irishmen to take the stage one by one while the intro to “Cigarettes in the Theater” played over the loud speaker. It helped build the anticipation while the guys found their respective positions.
It was a strong and energetic set, with a few surprises mixed in with the old favorites*. “Undercover Martyn” was the second song up, and one of my personal favorites, followed by a new song “Hands Off My Cash.” Guitarist Sam Halliday’s sleek strumming met with bassist Kevin Baird’s frantic energy and front man Alex Trimble’s sweet voice – one that often falls into his adorable falsetto.
The dancing was on full power that night at Neumo’s, the guys jumping up and down, and the girls shaking around, swooning at Kevin, Sam and Alex’s undeniably swoon-worthy accents. Hey, the guys are my age; I’m allowed to find them adorable.
And really, don’t most things sound better in an accent?
“This is our last show in America of the year, and we’d like to thank all of you for coming out to see us tonight. This is fucking awesome!” Alex praised the audience before their last few songs.
Honestly, the set seemed really short, 12 songs in the normal set and 2 in the encore. But Two Door Cinema Club’s songs aren’t that long, but they pack in a lot of punch to the 2-3 minute songs. Having the little bit of wiggle room to the right of the stage, I couldn’t help but shake my groove thing – just a bit. We were all singing along, so why not dance?
The young lads exited the stage the first time after “Eat This Up, It’s Good For You,” one of the more underrated songs on their album Tourist History. Seriously, the latter half of this song is one of the best parts of the album. And all of a sudden, people started cheering wildly for them to come back on stage. I always wonder if people actually think the band won’t come back for an encore unless you start a chant. It’s kind of a common practice for bands to do encores these days. And they hadn’t even played “I Can Talk” yet, so there was obviously an encore. Fun fact: for the longest time, in “I Can Talk” where they say “I know how you like to,” I thought it was “But nobody likes you.”
That encore included the new single, “Come Back Home,” a song about waiting too long and wasting a missed opportunity, which they most certainly do not do in playing the song in the encore, because the energy was still tremendously high. It’s what you get with a bunch of teenagers shoved together in a small venue on a Saturday night. Naturally, the final song of the night – like I said before – was the widely popular “I Can Talk,” which was a perfect way to end the show, even if it was relatively short. But like the old saying, “time flies when you’re having fun [with an adorable Irish electro-pop band called Two Door Cinema Club].”
Okay, maybe I added a couple of words in there.
