Live Review: Two Door Cinema Club, Lastlings

As the haunting vocals of Lastlings’ Amy Dowdle fill the air, the room becomes a technicolour dreamland. Heavy dance beats, distorted bass lines and convulsing synths instantly turn up the crowd's energy. I’ve Got You delivers an electro-pop breakdown as lights flicker in pink and purple. Dowdle’s carefree stage presence creates a candid atmosphere and as Deja Vu concludes, it’s clear that this crowd is truly pumped up.

Lastlings @ The Forum. Photo by Monique Pizzica.

“Connected. Program ready,” a piercing computerised voice blares throughout the room as a countdown from five begins. Cheers erupt and we literally see red as Northern Irish electro-pop act Two Door Cinema Club arrives on stage. From the floor to the stands, the cables and microphones, everything is red, as the LED backdrop that spans the stage flashes in violent scarlet.

Two Door Cinema Club @ The Forum. Photo by Monique Pizzica.

Sporting a yellow turtleneck and blue suit, frontman Alex Trimble commands the stage with Talk while red and blue speaker phones flash past on the blinding backdrop. “She spoke words...” is sung at such force from the crowd that it's earsplitting as the band get straight into the classics with Undercover Martyn and I Can Talk. You can hear that tonight is sold out. 

Trimble’s stage presence is superb, his theatrical gestures demonstrating vigour, passion and confidence, his piercing falsetto cutting through the opening lines of Bad Decisions. The beginning of each song is met with a cheer louder than the one before, the crowd reaching peak volume when bassist Kevin Baird teases we’re about to go “back to where it all began”. The opening guitar riff for What You Know barely even begins before fans scream it at the top of their lungs.

Two Door Cinema Club @ The Forum. Photo by Monique Pizzica.

This show feels like a festival set, the energy is that high, with friends on top of shoulders, crashing and thrashing into one another, and grinning while grabbing each other's faces. Something Good Can Work is met with another thunderous welcome and builds ferociously stronger and faster until touring drummer Ben Thompson throws his sticks behind him in an explosive release of energy.

Playing straight through the traditional encore break we reach “one more song” time. If anybody's not already spent from that exhausting dance party of a show, they put their energy into drowning out Trimble during Sun’s final choruses. 

Two Door Cinema Club @ The Forum. Photo by Monique Pizzica.