The Neighborhood @ Stage AE
Following incredible opening acts, Hunny and Bad Suns, Califo(u)rnia natives, The Neighbourhood took the stage accompanied by a chorus of screams and bright white strobing lights. It comes as no surprise to any fan of the band that the obvious theme Monday night was high-contrast black and white. Frontman, Jesse Rutherford wore simple black skinnies and a long-sleeved striped shirt as he and bandmates Jeremy Freedman, Zach Abels, Mikey Margott, and Brandon Fried tore through their setlist.
Beginning with “W.D.Y.W.F.M?”, a track from their debut album, I Love You, The Neighbourhood played flawlessly through a carefully selected medley of tunes pulled from each of their releases. They even threw in a mix of tracks from last year’s experimental (and extremely successful) hip-hop mixtape #000000 & #FFFFFF which included our personal favorite, the French Montana featured “#icanteven”.
Of course, popular tracks like “Sweater Weather” and “Afraid” that channel to our inner worries and anxieties were played. We may have gotten a little carried away with singing along to certain profanity-ridden lines of that last one…
The show’s closer was the newly released “R.I.P. 2 My Youth” off of the band’s upcoming album, Wiped Out! (dropping October 30th). The song teased a more dark and glamorous lifestyle than we’ve been used to with The Neighbourhood, trading in lyrics that mention “the holes of my sweater” for “wrap me in Chanel inside my coffin”, a transition that we are impressed by and obsessed with.
(It also subtly channels music legends like Kurt Cobain, Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, and Jim Morrison with the lyric “I’m using white lighters to see what’s in front of me”. All four musicians were said to have died with white lighters on their person.)
As the night came to a close, and a sea of black clothing made its way out the door, we couldn’t help but feel a little sad. Our night was over…but at least we still have the album to look forward to!
