Many surprises await you, in the basement, people, in the basement

Wristbands and coffee :)

 The day began early – we woke up when it was barely light outside, in order to be in Oxford Street, London by 9am to get our hands on the entry wristbands (of which there were only 400!). We arrived with plenty of time, and excitedly put them on, whilst drinking a much needed coffee after our early start!

The actual acoustic gig didn’t start until 6pm, but we arrived at the queue outside HMV’s flagship store just after 5 o’clock, and already a big line of excited Two Door fans (unofficially known as ‘Basement People’) had formed, all armed with copies of the new album ‘Beacon’, ready to be signed by Alex, Sam and Kevin themselves. We were allowed into the shop about half an hour before it all started, and found that an area of the building had been sectioned off especially for the event, with a small stage set up against the wall. As always, the wait for a gig wasn’t particularly enjoyable, but we were waiting amongst the shelves of CDs, so at least we had some time to check out what was in stock!


Armed with merchandise!



While we were waiting, with arms full of TDCC merchandise (two CDs – ‘Beacon’ and also their debut ‘Tourist History’, a DIY T-shirt emblazoned with the band’s logo and a rather battered copy of NME magazine), we were approached by a woman who had spotted the magazine we were holding. She explained to us that she was a reporter for the NME, and began to query us about what we like about Two Door Cinema Club. When she asked who the biggest fan of the band was, Isabella instantly pointed towards me (Felicity – I’m a big Two Door fan!). In response to the journalist’s questions, I described what I felt when I first listened to Tourist History (something along the lines of “it was like my ears were exploding – but in the best possible way”... hardly eloquent, but expressing what you think about your favourite band is a lot more difficult than it sounds!)

Before long, the audience started clapping and cheering as Alex, Sam and Kevin appeared from a stage door and took to the ‘stage’ – a small area at the back of HMV which had been cordoned off. They began their acoustic set with ‘Sleep Alone’, their most recent single to date, and the first single release from ‘Beacon’, which provided the audience with the perfect beat to clap along to (see our “Top Songs of Summer 2012” post for more reference to this!) Although it seemed that many of the audience didn’t know many of the words to Sleep Alone, they soon had the chance to sing along when the band broke out into a slower, folksy version of ‘Undercover Martyn’, which was followed by ‘Do You Want It All’, two songs from Two Door’s debut album which proved very popular.

TWO DOOR CINEMA CLUB!

These were followed by the catchy and optimistic “Something Good Can Work”, which left a permanent smile on our faces for the rest of the evening, and guitar-based new album track “Next Year”, which may have been unknown to many of the audience, but was still enjoyed by everyone there. When lead singer Alex Trimble (who you may have seen singing at the Olympics Opening Ceremony in London this year) announced that they were to play one last song, everyone anticipated what would come next. Upon recognising the opening guitar chords of “What You Know”, the crowd descended into cheering, jumping and even screaming; this song provided the perfect end to the set.



Photo © Indscene

After Two Door had put down their guitars and stood for a few press photos, they sat down and prepared to sign albums for the ‘swarming hordes’ of fans that awaited them (anyone who owns a copy of Tourist History should get that reference ;] ). When it was our turn, we gave the band, who seemed to us like such genuinely nice people, our merchandise to sign (TDCC proving that signing a T-shirt is a lot more difficult than it looks); thanking them a little too excessively and telling them what a great gig it was. It didn’t seem real that one of our favourite bands, whose music we often play on loop, were sitting right in front of us, signing the CD that we’ve listened to many a time, casually speaking to us and complaining to each other about a broken permanent marker. I guess “surreal” would be the closest word to describe that moment.

Sam, Kevin and Alex signing our copy of Beacon!

Felicity getting a T-shirt signed by Kevin!

Isabella speaking to Alex and getting a copy of Tourist History signed!

Still in slight awe of what had just happened, we were walking out of the emptying shock, when we spotted Pete Robertson, the drummer from The Vaccines, buying 4 copies of The Vaccines’ “Come Of Age”, also released on the same day. A brief chat about the new album led to a great photo opportunity – and we soon realised that this was the second member of The Vaccines that we’ve met (the first being Arni the bassist at the Eden Sessions concert in Cornwall). We’ll never forget our trip to Oxford Street on Monday, 3^rd September 2012, that’s for sure.

A picture with Pete!