Music
12 Apr 16

LIVE REPORT: Two Door Cinema Club wow Whelan's

Tribute band aficionado Colm O'Regan was left wholly disappointed last night, as a date with Tudor Cinema Club instead turned out to be the real thing. But even if the secret-keeping wasn't entirely successful, the gig was nothing short of a triumph

In retrospect, it seems ludicrous. Anyone with half a brain should have figured out that Tudor Cinema Club was a sham. After all, what unknown covers act - paying homage to a band with only two albums to their name - would have the neck to plan a nationwide tour?
And while it took slightly longer than we'd care to admit for the penny to drop, tickets were snapped up with serious haste once it had. After all, you'd have to go back as far as 2013 to find the last time the Co. Down trio shared a stage - the chance to catch them again was one of the hottest tickets of the year so far.
And so, into one of the hottest rooms of the year so far, as the Wexford St. venue was filled to heaving, sweaty capacity. The whispers beforehand were suitably uninformed - that the band would be road-testing their imminent third album, or that the shows were a working rehearsal. Such beliefs were utterly misguided, for this was a good old-fashioned rock gig.
And what a gig. Any show that opens with the nonchalant deployment of 'Sleep Alone' and 'Undercover Martyn' is clearly not going to be short of outstanding tunes, and over 75 relentless minutes they ran through the vast majority of both Tourist History and Beacon. 'Come Back Home', 'Sun' and 'I Can Talk' were predictable highlights; 'Wake Up' and 'The World Is Watching' perhaps more surprising stand-outs. If there was any ring rust at all, it certainly wasn't showing.
What was evident was the joy at being back; frontman Alex Trimble - wearing one of your grandaunt's shirts - thanked the crowd on numerous occasions, as though the time away had led them to forget their place as one of the country's most loved acts. Not that the crowd was hesitant in reminding them; unlike many shows, where the draw of being seen brings some less-than-devoted punters in the door, this was one for the real fans.
By the time typically blistering renditions of 'Cigarettes In The Theatre' and 'What You Know' brought proceedings to a close, a statement of sorts had been made; while the memory of just how good they are might have faded during the hiatus, Two Door Cinema Club remain the real deal. Album No. 3 can't come soon enough...