Photo Credit: Mike Coppola<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Review by Simone DiNota<\/p>\n
It\u2019s been 15 years since the release of \u201cTourist History,\u201d the debut album that put Northern Irish rock band Two Door Cinema Club (TDCC) on the map. After releasing a deluxe edition in 2025, the band is embarking on the North American leg of its anniversary tour, playing feel-good hits from its first album and career that are impossible not to love.<\/span><\/p>\n UK-based Friendly Fires and Portland-based STRFKR opened the tour\u2019s Boston show at MGM Music Hall. Friendly Fires felt a bit more alternative than TDCC, but STRFKR bordered on experimental, with immersive, dreamlike production elements that included lighting projections of floating eyes and two backup dancers dressed as astronauts, one of whom crowd-surfed.<\/span><\/p>\n A hush fell over the crowd as a montage of past performance introductions played through the speakers, keeping the band\u2019s 15-year history at the forefront of the performance. Then, lead singer Alex Trimble, guitarist Sam Halliday and bassist Kevin Baird took the stage, along with two supporting band members on the drums and keys.<\/span><\/p>\n Supporting band members were positioned on top of a platform, and light boxes glowed with vibrant colors behind them, shifting based on the mood of each song. Though Trimble, Halliday and Baird could have been more mobile on the floor of the stage, they generally stayed in their respective corners. The audience, on the other hand, clapped, jumped and danced throughout the performance.<\/span><\/p>\n The group opened with \u201cCigarettes in the Theatre,\u201d a track where fast-paced guitar at the verses played in conversation with Trimble\u2019s resounding vocals, while the chorus effortlessly blended joyful keys and synths.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThis Is the Life\u201d was a nice contrast. With a slower, steadier tempo, guitar that felt equally powerful but more expressive and a refreshingly simple repeated lyric, the song felt like the backing track you\u2019d want in the trailer of your life.<\/span><\/p>\n Before performing \u201cSomething Good Can Work,\u201d which had the audience pointing to the sky on the lyric \u201cIt\u2019s only going up,\u201d the band shouted out Boston\u2019s hospitality.<\/span><\/p>\n The Boston audience returned the compliment, showing the band the same support when they played newer tracks like \u201cWonderful Life\u201d from their 2022 album, \u201cKeep On Smiling\u201d and \u201cKids,\u201d which was released on \u201cTourist History (Deluxe Edition)\u201d in 2025.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Though the crowd\u2019s energy never dipped, \u201cUndercover Martyn\u201d was a standout performance. The audience went wild as the stage lights suddenly went out, then flashed back on when Halliday started strumming the song\u2019s familiar guitar line.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWhat You Know,\u201d the band\u2019s most well-known song, closed out the show with a bang. Pink, yellow and red lighting drenched the stage in a sunset-like glow as Trimble paused to let the audience scream the lyrics in his place.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n There\u2019s something special about this track because, despite its upbeat musical feel, it never quite resolves itself. The lyrics of the chorus, \u201cAnd I can\u2019t say it\u2019s what you know, but you\u2019ve known it the whole time,\u201d contradict each other. The guitar line sounds like it\u2019s reaching for something it never gets. And the song\u2019s final note establishes an air of uncertainty.<\/span><\/p>\n At this anniversary concert, TDCC reflected on their own uncertainty when they first started out as a group of high school friends playing out of a garage.<\/span><\/p>\n Fifteen years later, \u201cTourist History\u201d still unites audiences with its irresistible playfulness. I\u2019m excited to see where the next 15 years will take this powerhouse of a band.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Photo Credit: Mike Coppola Review by Simone DiNota It\u2019s been 15 years since the release of \u201cTourist History,\u201d the debut album that put Northern Irish rock band Two Door Cinema Club (TDCC) on the map. After releasing a deluxe edition in 2025, the band is embarking on the North American leg of its anniversary […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":26292,"featured_media":55087,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1525,1523,15],"tags":[327,2012,1920,2037],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55086"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/26292"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=55086"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55086\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":55139,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55086\/revisions\/55139"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/55087"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=55086"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=55086"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=55086"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}