10/21/13

SHOW REVIEW: Two Door Cinema Club wsg St. Lucia and PEACE at The Crofoot Ballroom October 18, 2013




Ireland’s Two Door Cinema Club played a very sold out show on Friday evening at The Crofoot Ballroom in Pontiac with St. Lucia and PEACE serving as opening support. While currently on the road supporting 2012’s Beacon, Two Door Cinema Club are getting ready to start recording their third album slated for a 2015 release. Two Door Cinema Club have a sound that is tough to characterize, whether you call it indie rock, synth pop or electro rock, their music makes for a stellar fast-paced, live show. They recently released the single “Changing Of The Seasons” which was produced by French EDM prodigy, Madeon, from the EP of the same name. Their Crofoot show started with the one-two punch of hits, “Sleep Alone” and “Undercover Martyn”, working the crowd into a frenzy. The electropop tinged, “Changing Of The Seasons”, laid back “Sun”, and the frantic “I Can Talk” followed. The eighteen song set continued with “Next Year”, “Something Good Can Work” and encore, “What You Know” among others. Their live show was a great balance between a rock and roll show and a free-for-all dance party. The crowd was mixed between high schooler’s and hip twenty and thirty-somethings.  Lead singer, Alex Trimble, has one of the best live voices in rock  today. He is able to hit all of the notes and he doesn’t have to rely on cheap vocal processing or effects. The light show featured several strobing light pillars which were able to change color and image. During one of the tracks the pillars neatly listed various international airport abbreviations. Upon the release of their third album we can expect Two Door Cinema Club to emerge as one of the biggest names in their game.




The stand out in this impressive triple billing was South African bred, Brooklyn based, St. Lucia, also known as Jean-Philip Grobler and his band. St. Lucia’s phenomenal debut album When The Night was released earlier this month and they are currently amassing a huge amount of buzz. Live, St. Lucia, demonstrate flawless vocals and relaxing tropitronic sounds (tropical and electronic mixed together.) Their songs “Elevate”, “Closer Than This”, “The Night Comes Again”, and “All Eyes On You” are essential chill out music, while “September” and “Too Close” capture the New Wave dance style of Depeche Mode and New Order, turning the floor into a vibe-y party. When I saw St. Lucia open for Ellie Goulding earlier this year, I was blown away from their sound and live show, so this time I figured I knew what was coming my way. I was wrong, their live show has become even tighter and more honed, and they were able to have a show stealing performance than few new bands can get away with. St. Lucia are already quickly selling out their shows booked for 2014.


PEACE, based out of Birmingham UK, opened the show with their version of indie rock and roll. In Love, their debut album was just released in the US earlier this month and they are achieving buzz all over the internet. Their music lands somewhere between Brit-pop, indie rock and dance-punk.  Songs like “Wrath” groove live, while their single “Love Sick” is Brit-pop at its finest. Even though they are still an on-the-verge band, PEACE, have the stage chemistry of a band of a much larger stature. We can eventually expect this band to have a huge repertoire and long history together.