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.