Tokyo Police Club +Two Door Cinema Club + P.S. I Love You @ Club Soda

There I was on a Sunday night, sitting in one of the side balconies at Club Soda and thinking, "who does a show on a Sunday night?" Isn't Sunday night meant for rest after a long weekend? I guess I'm getting too old. Or is it just the fatigue of partying all weekend? It felt weird since usually I take pictures at concerts but for a change I was there to review the show.

I've wanted to see Tokyo Police Club since they came out with their first EP, A Lesson in Crime, in 2006. In 2008 the band released Elephant Shell, their first full-length album. With the release of their second album, Champ, the boys from Newmarket, Ontario have gone on a North-American tour. Joining them are two up-and-coming indie bands: P.S. I Love You and Two Door Cinema Club.

I must say that I liked P.S. I Love You's, Meet Me at the Muster Station. However, their performance as a whole left me expecting more from the band. Both band members, Paul Saulnier and Benjamin Nelson, didn't seem to connect with the ever-increasing crowd. Their song set was very short, (only eight songs!) which lasted a half hour.  The highlight of their performance was Paul Saulnier playing his guitar behind his back, which he did very well! By now, Club Soda had filled up considerably and the crowd was ready for the next act, Two Door Cinema Club. I've always wondered who sang the song, "Something Good Can Work." I'd had the song for a while in a podcast and have loved it ever since! The Northern-Ireland lads came on stage to a unanimous cheer from the crowd. It was pretty obvious that the crowd had been waiting for them. For close to an hour they got the crowd going by playing the tracks from their first album, Tourist History, and some unreleased material (available on their website). Listening to TDCC reminded me of Phoenix, both label mates on the French label, Kitsuné Records.

After a performance of that caliber you would expect an equally good or better performance from the following act. Fortunately, Tokyo Police Club did not disappoint!

From the first note of the song, “Favourite Colours," the group had literally their foot on the pedal, building momentum with each song. During the performance some guys in the crowd started crowd surfing, which prompted the singer to ask not to do so. The quartet looked at ease, relaxed with the Montréal crowd, even playing around with each other on stage. The band played almost all of the songs off Champ, and crowd favourites like "Nature of the Experiment," "Tessellate," "Your English is Good," and a very intense version of "Citizens of Tomorrow." The highlight of their performance was the last song of their three song encore during which they invited the guys from Two Door Cinema Club on stage for a rendition of "Last Night" by The Strokes!

What I've always liked about Tokyo Police Club is their upbeat pace, the quirky lyrics, omnipresent acoustic guitar in each song and the distinctive voice of the lead singer and bassist, Dave Monks. Even with the poor sound quality of Club Soda they managed to sound really good! It was a great concert from a Canadian band whose sound keeps maturing and improving with every album.

Discovering a new band and seeing one of my favourite bands at the same time - not bad for a Sunday night show!

Alex Menjivar is the co-host of Phantastiq Cypha, every Friday from 4-6 pm.