Screaming music lovers filled Billboard in Melbourne on Tuesday night, all to catch a glimpse of Two Door Cinema Club. It was the Northern Ireland lads last Australian show, performing to a sold out crowd.
The support act, Western Australian duo Tim and Jean, took the stage at 9pm and got the crowd reasonably psyched with their catchy electro/rock/pop tunes. Imagine if Art vs Science and the Galvatrons had a baby and asked Passion Pit to be the godparents, you would be left with Tim and Jean. They played a reasonable set of around 45 minutes before exiting the stage promising Two Door were (excuse their French) ‘fucking amazing …’! Cue curtain drop.
Half an hour later and still no Two Door; we were getting anxious. A spectator mused, ‘how long does it take to set up a frikking stage?!’ A few cheers erupted as the curtain was raised to an empty stage, before lead vocalist Alex Trimble followed by guitarist Sam Halliday and bass player Kevin Baird strolled onto the stage and took their places.
Immediately launching into ‘Cigarettes in the Theatre’ they had the crowds on their side from the word go. Second track of the ranks sent the pulsing mass into overdrive as they belted out the opening chords to ‘Undercover Martyn’, a definite crowd pleaser. More favourites followed including ‘You’re Not Stubborn, Do You Want It All,’ keeping the mood upbeat. The energy with which the boys played was infectious, one look at their grinning faces and you could not help but grin back and groove along to their well rehearsed tracks.
Trimble and Baird chatted with the crowd between numbers, recounting how great Splendour in the Grass was, where they had been performing on the weekend. The Irish lilts in which they spoke only added to their charm and had many girls in hysterics as they professed, ‘We were at Splendour! We love you!’ Amusing to watch at the least.
Their final track, ‘Eat That Up, It’s Good For You,’ left the crowd un-satisfied. Screaming for one more song, the lights remained dimmed and the boys sauntered back out beginning their encore with ‘Come Back Home’. Finally, as the distinctive opening of ‘I Can Talk’ began everybody went absolutely nuts! Two Door ripped through their signature track with vigor and energy, coaxing all 930 of us into an absolute frenzy.
An impressive performance, the energy levels never dipped on or off stage. Afterwards, the boys invited the crowd to enjoy a few beverages with them at the Cherry Bar. This sums up their entire performance, they were welcoming, friendly, fun and really really really good! Hectically good!
Josephine Crawley is a second year Bachelor of Journalism student at La Trobe University. This is her first piece for upstart.
