"We rattle this town, we rattle this scene" (Anna Sun)

Walk The Moon at iTunes Festival, Roundhouse, London

It was our first visit to both the iTunes festival and London’s Roundhouse. As avid music fans (who would guess?!), we had both entered the competition to win tickets to many of the days of the month-long festival which takes place every September, and when we won a pair, we were surprised and very excited. 

Walk The Moon are a band from the USA, who are still relatively unknown, in the UK at least.  However, we discovered them a few months ago and were both immediately hooked on their music, especially our favourites ‘Anna Sun’ and ‘Next In Line’. 

Walk The Moon at iTunes Festival 2012

They were the support act of the night (although, in our opinion, capable of a headline slot), and had a reasonable 45 minute set.  It began with the song ‘The Liftaway’, which has a guitar riff which reminds me of Elbow’s ‘One Day Like This’.  Not that Walk The Moon are particularly similar to them- they have a much more ‘indie sound’, with their super fast electric guitars and upbeat, uplifting tunes, they are more reminiscent of Two Door Cinema Club.

We were the only people we could see in the crowd who knew the band, but we still sang and clapped along as Walk The Moon performed song after song with an excited enthusiasm. The key moment was undoubtedly their performance of single ‘Anna Sun’, which sounded just as good live as recorded, but with an added energy that only comes with live music.

After seeing them live, we would definitely recommend Walk The Moon, and hope to see them becoming very successful in the UK and beyond.   

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!

When the curtain falls, it's time to leave the stage...

Spector on the BT Vision Stage

While everyone else was going sports-mad around the time of the London Olympics, we were excited to hear about the fortnight of free gigs taking place in London’s Hyde Park. BT London Live was the name of the event where anyone and everyone had the opportunity to watch screenings of live Olympic events – and also to see a variety of live musical performances.

 

When we heard Spector were performing on 8^th August, we were curious to find out more about the band who, before the gig, we associated with their radio-played song ‘Chevy Thunder’. For those of you who’ve never heard of Spector, think of vocals similar to those of Tom Smith from Editors with a White Lies vibe; their music is characterised by their love of electric guitar-powered intros and ambiguous, thought-provoking lyrics.

L-R: Jed Cullen, Fred Macpherson, Danny Blandy, Chris Burman, Tom Shickle

Anyway, here is our review:

Spector's Fred Macpherson singing 'Celestine'

We were surprised by the number of people who turned up for the gig, especially as Spector were not playing the main stage. The band opened with the recognisable intro of ‘Celestine’ (lyrics from which are in the title), which instantly kicked off the atmosphere and had the crowd jumping. We couldn’t help but notice their pride at their debut album, Enjoy It While It Lasts, being released the following Monday, as lead singer Fred Macpherson kept reminding us to buy it!

As we mentioned earlier, we were anticipating the aforementioned Chevy Thunder, which had introduced us to the band, so when Fred made reference to giving the audience “chevrything”, we knew what to expect. With a performance impressively similar to the studio recording, Spector had the audience singing along. Last, but not least, Spector treated the audience to a memorable performance of their latest single release, ‘Never Fade Away’, throughout which the crowd’s swaying gradually turned to clapping as the song progressed and the 30-minute set came to an end.

Enjoying it while it lasted; Spector

We’d definitely recommend seeing Spector; they’re one to watch for 2012, with both a crowd-entertaining stage presence and a sound which translates very well from recording to stage. “Enjoy It While It Lasts”? We certainly did.

Isabella and Felicity, OTJ x