Two Door Cinema Club
2022 was a year of ups and downs for Two Door Cinema Club. Following a busy summer of festivals and the release of their fifth album ‘Keep on Smiling’, their further tour plans were suddenly halted. This was following the announcement of the band’s bass and synth player Kevin Baird’s ongoing health issues. However, the Northern Irish indie mainstays truly marked their return to the limelight with a headline set at Live at Leeds 2023.
The opening tracks were ‘This is the Life’ and ‘I Can Talk’. The first of many to come from their massively successful debut album ‘Tourist History’. After a frantic opening continued with ‘Are We Ready? (Wreck)’, the mood turned to disco with ‘Handshake’ and ‘Dirty Air’ as the band showed their evolution from guitar riffs to full synth soundscapes.
Wonderful Life
The chilled-out mood continued through the early parts of popular Tourist History album track ‘Eat That Up, It’s Good For You’ and its light guitar melodies. But before long the rising bridge erupted into a trademark frenzy of guitar and drums in one of the highlights of the set.
In a set that jumped between new and old, 2022’s newest sing along Two Door Cinema Club song ‘Wonderful Life’ was then followed by debut album tracks ‘Come Back Home’ and one of their first ever sing along anthems ‘Undercover Martyn’. Frontman Alex Trimble was even able to entrust the audience with the responsibility of singing the whole of the verse the second time around.
What You Know
The synth fuelled disco then returned with the groovy ‘Talk’ from 2019’s ‘False Alarm’. This continued with ‘Changing of the Seasons’ and ‘Next Year’. There was a brief return to their debut album with the jerky ‘Do You Want It All?’. Then, recent single ‘Lucky’ showed that theyhave not lost the art of creating songs that are both catchy and danceable.
Trimble then announced that they would be playing some older tracks. Before long, the festival field was bouncing and chanting along to the iconic guitar riff of ‘What You Know’. This was a mark of how ingrained into the national consciousness the song has become. Following this was the less recognisable but pleasantly surprising appearance of ‘Costume Party’ in the set. The B-side to ‘I Can Talk’ was a surprising omission from their debut album’s initial track list. Despite this, its catchy ending chorus was sung by the die hard Two Door Cinema Club fans in attendance.
Something Good Can Work
Following further fan favourite tracks ‘Someday and ‘Cigarettes in the Theatre’, night-time had truly arrived. The party mood continued with ‘Sun’ and ‘Sleep Alone’ from their sophomore album ‘Beacon’. To close out the night, the crowd lit up one last time for summer anthem ‘Something Good Can Work’. It sounded as fresh and positive as it did in 2011. The fan favourite remains a sing along highlight of any Two Door Cinema Club show.
For the last decade, a Two Door Cinema Club set to a large field on a warm sunny day has a British festival staple. The addition of new material over the years has further cemented this reputation. And they continue to prove that they are deserving of headline status across the country.
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