This year marks fifteen years since the release of the band’s debut album ‘Tourist History’, which propelled them from unknown teenagers playing in pubs to regular chart success as an outfit capable of garnering huge crowds. Many bands struggle to ever escape the shadow of their debut album, but Two Door Cinema Club embraced the wave they found themselves on and stuck together to develop their sound by exploring synth-heavy vibes to venture towards something akin to disco. What resonated with an eternally loyal crowd was the band’s commitment to the core of ‘Tourist History’, not just the compelling honesty within the lyricism but their willingness to continually return to the three-piece, rag-tag student band they once were.
As a core component of any sunbaked UK festival, Two Door Cinema Club know all too well about the importance of championing upcoming bands and watching them flourish, with bright sparks of both The Royston Club (for the Dublin and Belfast dates) and Arkayla (for the English and Scottish dates) being brought along for the ride. As if that wasn’t enough, should you need just a bit more nostalgia-fuelled sing-along tracks, Circa Waves will be supporting at shows in England and Scotland.
The Northern Irish mainstays in the development of the 2010s clichéd jangly-guitar indie scene deserve their flowers for the memories they’ve given us, and the anniversary of ‘Tourist History’ opens the door to a lap of honour. Any tour of the ‘indie’ scene worth its salt would take a meaningful stop at Two Door Cinema Club, with their early output such as ‘You Are Not Stubborn’ standing the test of time in its repeated appearances in pubs and playlists around the world.
It’s easy to forget the world we lived in when ‘Tourist History’ came to be; in a crowded field their 2010 debut leapfrogged the likes of Bombay Bicycle Club, Foals and the seemingly unstoppable force of Mumford & Sons in their pomp. Two Door Cinema Club set their energetic tone with thumping bass guitar lines reminiscent of early Arctic Monkeys tracks, but evolved their soundscape with inflections of electronic dance and post-punk to ensure ‘Tourist History’ escaped the seemingly inevitable fate of being consigned to the ‘indie landfill’.
Two Door Cinema Club will be weaving the performance of ‘Tourist History’ in full with some of their later fan favourites, no doubt dipping from ‘Are We Ready? (Wreck)’ to ‘Changing of the Seasons’, and with any luck delving into some deeper cuts we haven’t heard in well over a decade. Of course, appearances of ‘What You Know’ and ‘Undercover Martyn’ within the setlist will be highly anticipated moments after years of being being absent from arenas around the UK and Ireland.
Whilst this is a band who’ve graced the stage at Glastonbury so many times it’s but a footnote in their career, rolling through a summer of festival appearances into a worldwide tour which culminates in the UK and Ireland will be an immense undertaking. Two Door Cinema Club bring their unrelenting energy to stages across the UK in January 2027 and we cannot wait!
Joseph Madden
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