With two chart topping albums of pure pop perfection under their wings, you could say that Ireland’s Two Door Cinema Club are feeling mighty good about themselves. Their fans must have felt pretty good as well, as the band made the ultra smart decision to play two small shows in their stint in Toronto last week instead of one gigantic show. I was fortunate enough to catch the second one on Tuesday night at the Danforth music hall.
Opening the show were two bands who most definitely hope to attain a similar level success as Two Door Cinema Club. First off was England band Peace. My god. are they young. So young. The four piece act had all the signature English rock band traits – floppish mod inspired hair, an affinity for black clothes, rail thin stature and a ton of swagger. My god were they thin. Are they malnourished? Is English food really that bad? I mean, I always have good meals in London but then I usually eat at nice places. I wonder what the food quality is like at just default normal places. If it’s that bad then god bless. Maybe it’s a drug habit. Hopefully it is.
Peace follows in lines of fellow Brit rockers in trying to capture that magic that will elevate them above mediocrity. Stringing together danceable beats with friendly sounding guitar riffs and choruses designed for singalongs, Peace seems to bring together elements from early Foals but geared more towards a radio friendly sound. It all seemed very pleasant and the younger kids in the all ages seemed to dig it based on the pitch levels of the screams. The lead singer of Peace reminded me a bit of young Richard Ashcroft, minus the heroine. Maybe he just hides it better, I dunno.
Next up was St. Lucia, a band clearly on the rise. Their Wrongbar show earlier this year is still talked about today and with the highly touted debut album When Night Calls just released, the group seems primed for “the jump”. Decked out in colourful Hawaiian shirts, the group did their best to revive the 80’s with a synth heavy, somewhat tropical, almost Yacht Rock worthy sound. I think this band will definitely benefit from a larger budget, so that they can bring out an actual saxophone player for those key sax moments rather then have it played from a sample. Live sax makes everything better. I am impressed with Jean-Philip Grobler’s voice, although some of the higher notes seem a bit of a stretch. Still, the band put on a very lively show that had people dancing. The highlight for me was the slow burner All Eyes on You aka the power rock ballad that the 80’s forgot. It’s one of the best songs from the summer and was equally good live (but could have used a live sax player). The tropical vibes of Wait for Love makes me want to order girly drinks with an umbrella in it and start a conga line. I almost feel like St. Lucia would benefit even more if they brought some foliage on screen and played to a backdrop of montages. The future is bright for these chaps.
There’s no doubt that the night’s headliners – Two Door Cinema Club have mastered the “formula”. Somehow they have found the perfect sequence of rhythm and melodies that allow them to crank out single after single of highly danceable, highly enjoyable pop tracks. Despite a host of similar sounding songs, it’s basically impossible to dislike the band. I think we are all genetically predisposed to enjoy their music. The band took the stage to the shrieks of their fans and promptly launched into a series of hits. The band’s hooks are just so consistently good that I spent most of the show trying to figure out their formula – is it the three word/syllable choruses? is it the subtle rhythm shift whenever they go to chorus? The easy to learn lyrics? I couldn’t quite figure it out, and that’s probably why I’m writing a review of a show rather than in a band. It speaks volume for a band that they can play over an hour of samey sounding music and still come off as pretty damn good.
Overall a very enjoyable night of fine pop music.