Two Door Cinema Club review: 'Tourist History' brings nostalgia — and heat — to Cork's Marquee
Two Door Cinema Club on stage at Live at the Marquee in Cork. Picture by Noel Sweeney
Nostalgia; the closer it gets, the better it is. It’s not that long ago that the effervescent Two Door Cinema Club topped the charts with their high-octane indie guitar-fuelled tunes. Today, those tunes are as energetic and infectious as ever.
"Good evening, Cork. How are you doing? We’re Two Door Cinema Club, thanks for joining us," says singer Alex Trimble, the early Blarney kept to a minimum Live at the Marquee on Tuesday night.
We’re here to dance, not to chat. Kick-off at 9pm sharp, totally pro. Blistering from the off.
Billed as the 15th anniversary celebration of their chart-topping 2010 debut album — written in their garage, topping the BBC Sound of 2010 Poll and enjoying pockets of global success — this tour puts the spotlight on a band whose brilliant originality still sparkles today.
"We’re so glad to be back in this awesome city, We’re back touring this album that we wrote in our garage. Those songs blew up around the world. We’d also like to play a few that never really made it out of Ireland.
"Like this one, it’s called ."
Great song. It sounds too big to have been a mere footnote.
And the band is arguably bigger than ever too. These favourite sons of Co Down arrive in the tent fresh from their main stage headline show a handful of days ago at the Isle of Wight Festival, where, by all accounts, they went down a storm.
Let’s face it, 15 years really isn’t that long ago for this trio of school chums.
To put it in context, Lionel Messi has been playing professional soccer for 22 years. And just like Leo, as these lads dance on the hotplate of an unlikely Cork heatwave, there’s not a bead of sweat to suggest they’re feeling the heat in front of this near-capacity Marquee.
Zero perspiration, 100% inspiration. Alex Trimble (vocals, rhythm guitar, synths), Sam Halliday (lead guitar, backing vocals), and Kevin Baird (bass, synths, backing vocals) are as fresh as ever. They’re joined on stage by drummer Benjamin Thompson for the current tour.
is an album well worth celebrating. As per the bill, the debut album dominated the setlist: Cigarettes in the Theatre; Come Back Home; Do You Want It All?; This Is the Life; Something Good Can Work; I Can Talk; Undercover Martyn; What You Know; Eat That Up, It's Good for You.
A night of high energy for this hugely receptive young audience. Welcome back, lads.
A well-deserved ripple also to guest act Florence Road for a ripping opening set. A step above a warmup. One wonders how long before they’ll be headlining here themselves?
