The Neighbourhood | June 25 | The Ogden Theatre
The Neighbourhood @ The Ogden Theatre (Photo Credit: McClain's iPhone)
I thought the night was going to be similar to other shows I've seen at The Ogden, maybe sip on a couple of Titan IPAs, get down to some tunes, hit on an unsuspecting civilian with a mustache...but I was in for something so much more than that. Approaching the entrance I was hit with the overwhelming smell of Axe Body Spray and the teenage angst that can only come from one of two things: a “boy-girl” party or the promise of grinding up on your crush to the soft coo of Jesse Rutherford’s voice from The Neighbourhood. My deductive reasoning skills, lead me to believe that it was indeed the latter. That being said, it was a great night, the crowd may have been young (or I am just getting older) but everyone was pumped up and all 3 acts put on a great show.
Mickey Church of White Arrows rocking out in his Purple Wig (Photo Credit: McClain Morris)
White Arrows were the first band to brave the stage and the act that I was most excited to see, as I interviewed their lead singer, Mickey Church earlier in the month. (View my interview here: http://www.ultra5280.com/blog/2014/6/11/white-arrows-interview-with-mickey-chuch-june-25-the-ogden-theatre) They played some of their older songs but sprinkled in their newer work as well. Although they were plucked away from the studio at a young age, you can tell that they are all very seasoned performers and have a lot of experience in front of a crowd. Mickey had all the girls swooning over his skinny jeans, converse, and purple wig, but more so his confidence and presence on stage. Keep an eye out for their new album, “In Bardo” coming out this Summer. “In Bardo” is the first album that they were able to record from start to finish, making it more linear than their previous releases while still capturing their style as artists.
Travi$ Scott reminds me of a little puppy that keeps biting your pants trying to get you to notice him. He was all over the stage: on top of the DJ booth, on the speaker, on the railing, in the middle of the crowd, and at one point literally on top of a security guard. Even making us chant, “suck my dick bitch” (verbatim) which is obviously the only logical way to get us ready for The Neighbourhood. His energy was definitely contagious though, as I was sitting up on the balcony I was about ready to stage dive down and join the teeny boppers for their dance party.
Travi$ Scott doing his thang (Photo Credit: McClain Morris)
One thing that really impressed me about The Neighbourhood’s set was their visuals, they had movie clips playing the background which made their performance seem three dimensional. Jesse Rutherford loves what he does and he holds nothing back while performing. From his Michael Jackson moon walk jig to his shameless selfie taking, he is completely engaged with his audience. They played songs off their new album (which everyone seemed to know the lyrics to already) and some of their more tenured tracks, which of course included, “Sweater Weather”. One thing that surprised me that I hadn’t seen at a show before was the sheer amount and diversity of objects being thrown on stage. Jesse was pegged with fan’s iPhones hoping for one of his famous selfies and during their last act it was items of women’s clothing ranging from bras and panties to shirts and whatever else was in reaching distance.
My three take aways from last night are that: I am excited that our younger generations are being exposed to good music and making the effort to go to shows, heat and over excitement will make anyone under 5’ 7” pass out, and you can throw anything (literally anything) into the audience and people will fight in order to get your water bottle/set list/guitar pick/used gum.
First Concert!
Also, shout out to the two girls I sat next to, it was their first concert and they had on some amazing, homemade t-shirts. Keep on using your Polaroid cameras and listening to good music!
-McClain Morris
