Two Door Cinema Club

It’s no secret that Two Door Cinema Club are one of the hardest working bands in the business, but conveniently enough, as of this month, there are statistics to prove it. Gig tracking website Songkick have just released a list of their top 20 touring artists of 2010, and to absolutely no-one’s surprise, the boys from Bangor rate pretty highly. From their lofty position at number four on the list, they can happily look down their noses at slackers like Vampire Weekend, 30 Seconds To Mars and Lady Gaga (only doing shows every other day, Stefani? Child’s play!)
After 168 tour dates and 130,000 miles, we can safely assume that tonight’s TDCC show will be hella tight, but almost certainly phoned-in. Still promoting their 32-minute debut album, the Choice Prize-winning Tourist History, it’s been nearly three years since Halliday, Baird and Trimble first performed the likes of ‘Undercover Martyn’. Freshness isn’t really on the menu – is it?
Well, shut my mouth and call me cynical! They blast off, aptly enough, with ‘Cigarettes In The Theatre’, and from the very first spazz-out, it’s clear that there’s real fire in these three bellies. Something about Two Door’s electronic hookery and hyperactive riffs compel young men to take their clothes off, and we’ve barely reached the first chorus before raptured fans start baring their flesh. It’s also worth mentioning that Alex Trimble’s syrupy drawl is completely wasted. 1,300 other voices have it covered.
On a night made entirely of pumped-up super smashes, it’s hard to pick a highlight. The soul clapping on ‘What You Know’? The simmering guitars on ‘Come Back Home’? The full-on freak-out that is signature tune ‘I Can Talk’? Personally, my soft spot is for Trimble’s delightful Derry twang, which turns up in full force at the end of ‘Eat That Up, It’s Good For You’. An unnamed new track boasts a fierce plodding bassline and feverish disco beat, suggesting that album number two won’t stray too far from the frenetic TDCC blueprint.
It would have been mighty tempting for Two Door Cinema Club to spend their 32nd show of 2011 (so far) spreading their musical wings and experimenting with new material, but that, naturally, wouldn’t have left their fans overjoyed (and they have proper fans, with homemade signs and everything!) Like any great pop act, these lads know what their audience wants. For Two Door Cinema Club, it’s all about making us feel great, or at the very least, good enough to take our shirts off.