The Upcoming
  • Culture
    • Art
    • Cinema & Tv
      • Movie reviews
      • Film festivals
      • Shows
    • Food & Drinks
      • News & Features
      • Restaurant & bar reviews
      • Interviews & Recipes
    • Literature
    • Music
      • Live music
    • Theatre
  • Fashion & Lifestyle
    • Accessories
    • Beauty
    • News & Features
    • Shopping & Trends
    • Tips & How-tos
    • Fashion weeks
  • What’s On
    • Art exhibitions
    • Theatre shows
  • Tickets
  • Join us
    • Editorial unit
    • Our writers
    • Join the team
    • Join the mailing list
    • Support us
    • Contact us
  • Interviews
  • Competitions
  • Special events
    • Film festivals
      • Berlin
      • Tribeca
      • Sundance London
      • Cannes
      • Locarno
      • Venice
      • London
      • Toronto
    • Fashion weeks
      • London Fashion Week
      • New York Fashion Week
      • Milan Fashion Week
      • Paris Fashion Week
      • Haute Couture
      • London Fashion Week Men’s
  • Facebook

  • Twitter

  • Instagram

  • YouTube

  • RSS

CultureMusicLive music

Tokyo Police Club at Rough Trade East

Tokyo Police Club at Rough Trade East | Live review
3 April 2014
Rita Vicinanza
Avatar
Rita Vicinanza
3 April 2014

Music temple Rough Trade East saw Canadian indie-rock band Tokyo Police Club take to the stage last night for a short gig in support of their new album Forcefield, released a few days ago. Not many people attend the event; most of them perhaps have come to discover a new group, some are there hoping to enjoy a free concert regardless of who’s playing and just a few are actual fans. Whatever the reason, the atmosphere is relaxed and everybody seems to have a good time indeed.

It’s a small venue, there are no special effects to wow the audience and it is no highly-anticipated show. Tokyo Police Club are (still) folks like us and that’s probably one of the explanations of their limited success. It looks as if they’re rehearsing in their garage instead of performing in public – the interaction is poor and the energy they release is inadequate. The sole drummer, Greg Alsop, seems to be deeply immersed in the music and devoted to infecting everyone else with the same good vibes he’s feeling: he often closes his eyes in such a rapture that he appears to be possessed.

There are attempts to involve the audience as everyone cheers after each song but as the band play the impression is that something is missing. It could be a bit more spark in the performance, it could be David Monks’ unimpressive voice, it could be due to a repertoire mainly made up of merely nice but not-so-sharp tracks.

Argentina, opener of the new record, loses its peculiarity as its cut halfway through (it is originally a short rock opera in its own right). Not Sick and Beaches reveal a clean sound but also that the singer’s voice is nothing special, sometimes even failing. Nature of the Experiment and Favourite Colour are slightly more engaging but still not giving thrills.

Some more excitement and innovation comes, though, with Bambi, rendered with a longer instrumental introduction; Juno – building up from a solo to a choral performance (also joined by the crowd); and in the end Your English Is Good, more energetic and apparently the band’s most famous hit.

Tokyo Police Club may not be the next big thing but they’re still certainly worth a listen.

Rita Vicinanza

For further information and future events visit Tokyo Police Club’s website here.

Watch the video for Bambi here:

Related Itemslive musicreview

More in Live music

Bicep at Saatchi Gallery Online

★★★★★
Jessica Wall
Read More

Laura Mvula – Under a Pink Moon

★★★★★
Sylvia Unerman
Read More

Tom Grennan live in concert – online

★★★★★
Georgie Cowan-Turner
Read More

The Cinematic Orchestra at the Southbank Centre

★★★★★
Dan Meier
Read More

Vienna New Year’s Day Concert at the Musikverein

★★★★★
Michael Higgs
Read More

Rufus, Martha and Lucy Wainwright Present: A Not So Silent Night “Virtually Together”

★★★★★
Francis Nash
Read More

Pete Tong and the Heritage Orchestra: Ibiza Classics – O Come All Ye Ravers at the O2 Arena Online

★★★★★
Dan Meier
Read More

Courtney Barnett live from the Royal Exhibition Building Melbourne

★★★★★
Georgie Cowan-Turner
Read More

Gorillaz: Song Machine Live

★★★★★
Sylvia Unerman
Read More
Scroll for more
Tap
  • Popular

  • Latest

  • TOP PICKS

  • Creation Stories
    ★★★★★
    Film festivals
  • Detroit Stories – Alice Cooper
    ★★★★★
    Album review
  • Judas and the Black Messiah
    ★★★★★
    Movie review
  • Gatsby at Cadogan Hall: An interview with Jodie Steele and Ross William Wild
    Theatre
  • Laura Mvula – Under a Pink Moon
    ★★★★★
    Live music
  • Back to the Wharf
    ★★★★★
    Film festivals
  • I’m Your Man (Ich bin dein Mensch)
    ★★★★★
    Berlinale
  • We (Nous)
    ★★★★★
    Berlinale
  • Language Lessons
    ★★★★★
    Berlinale
  • Moon, 66 Questions
    ★★★★★
    Berlinale
  • We (Nous)
    ★★★★★
    Berlinale
  • Bicep at Saatchi Gallery Online
    ★★★★★
    Live music
  • The Winter Lake
    ★★★★★
    Movie review
  • Spotlight: Lauren Everet and Soup Kitchen London, striving for food security and social equality
    Food & Drinks
  • Da Capo
    ★★★★★
    Film festivals
The Upcoming
Pages
  • Contact us
  • Join mailing list
  • Join us
  • Our London food map
  • Our writers
  • Support us
  • What, when, why

Copyright © 2011-2020 FL Media

Once at the Phoenix Theatre | Theatre review
I Found My Horn at Trafalgar Studios | Theatre review