Off the brink of splitting up, and their triumphant return to normality with their third studio album ‘Gameshow’, the Irish indie-rock titans Two Door Cinema Club brought their UK tour to the coastal city of Southampton for an evening of pure euphoria. Along for the ride were hyped-up Reading band Sundara Karma, who summoned the crowd for singalongs and getting up on shoulders early on, and Anteros, able to capably warm up the sold-out crowd for the night ahead.
When a band can open their set with perhaps a lesser known track, Cigarettes In The Theatre, and have it receive just as much jubilation as chart-hit Undercover Martyn, you know it’s going to be one of those nights that exceeds all expectations. Sticking firmly with tracks from ‘Tourist History’, TDCC unleashed Do You Want It All?, and the nostalgia-heavy This Is The Life to an absolutely adoring crowd. The electronic inspired title track to 2012’s ‘Changing Of The Seasons’ EP followed, and without a chance for breath by this point, a break came in the form of the funky Bad Decisions and Lavender, both of which fitted in seamlessly with TDCC’s sun-tinted tracks from days gone by including Next Year, and Come Back Home. Also amongst the set was comeback single Are We Ready? (Wreck), which, to be fair, I think sums up the evening appropriately as even prior to TDCC appeared on stage, there was a mock mosh-pit to Darude – Sandstorm … an absolute wreck.
Newer tracks from their first release since 2013 were nestled into the setlist with Ordinary, and titular track Gameshow making for a chance to rest, and for a moment to appreciate the development of Two Door Cinema Club’s sound following their hiatus. Reaching the tail end of the set, the non-stop nature of the evening went into overdrive with Something Good Can Work, I Can Talk, and Eat That Up It’s Good For You all inciting mass sing-and-dance-alongs from wall to wall. With ample distribution of tracks from all 3 studio albums, Two Door Cinema Club by this point had won the hearts of Southampton’s O2 Guildhall, and wrapped up their set with Sun from 2012’s ‘Beacon’. Taking over the stage once again to rapturous applause for their encore, TDCC hosted the double whammy of Someday, and the complete bop What You Know, with the quartet having triumphed the sold-out crowd.
After winning over crowds on their 2016 festival run, the success of ‘Gameshow’, and a lengthy sold-out UK tour to boot, it really shouldn’t be long before we see Two Door Cinema Club as a festival headliner.
Words by Jasmin Robinson
