NME Awards Tour – Two Door Cinema Club + Metronomy + Tribes + Azealia Banks

This annual tour of bands heading for big things (previous years introduced The Killers, Bloc Party and Crystal Castles) is either a direct line into the nation’s creative pulse or an evil marketing ploy. Whatever, these bands will sell bucketloads. With US rapper Azealia Banks sporadically invigorating, this vague momentum was lost by nineties-style pub-rockers Tribes, whose Nirvana/Feeder mix proved insipid and derivative. Metronomy’s distinctive indie-disco-electro shenanigans livened things up (despite occasionally sounding limp) before headliners, Two Door Cinema Club, took the stage. Likeable, if a little forgettable, these Irish pop-rockers were, unfortunately, not enough to save this patchy, somewhat depressing snapshot of the UK indie scene.

Concert Hall Brighton Dome, 23 February 2012
[rating: 2/5]
Nick Aldwinckle