Despite hailing from Northern Ireland, Two Door Cinema Club proved that danceable electro-pop music transcends borders during the second concert of the Bandersnatch Music Series Tuesday night in Schine Underground.

‘I love Two Door Cinema Club,’ said Chloe Mazzone, a sophomore in the College of Arts and Sciences. ‘I discovered them over the summer, and I think it’s cool they’re from Europe.’

The concert did not sell out, Trevor Elwell, President of the Bandersnatch Music Series. But the students who attended the concert were treated to an intimate interaction with the three acts.

Opening the concert was Los Angeles band GROUPLOVE, and although co-lead singer Heather Hooper entered the stage wearing a masquerade mask, the band had no reason to hide from the audience with its sunny brand of beach pop.

‘The mask represents believing in fantasy,’ said Sean Gadd, the group’s guitarist. ‘Like all of us just doing what comes naturally and playing music together. It’s also been a dream come true being on tour with such a great band.’

When not playing songs from its self-titled EP, GROUPLOVE spent part of its set carrying conversations with fans and even had a compliment or two for Syracuse’s autumn climate.

‘It was beautiful driving up Route 17, with the leaves changing colors and falling,’ Gadd said. ‘Now if only it wasn’t as cold.’

But the musical acts were only half of the equation. The tight-knit audience contributed to the friendly atmosphere, just as much as the bands did.

‘I love that the audience hugged the stage,’ Hooper said, ‘They had really good energy for it being 8 p.m. on a Tuesday night with class the next day. I think we really warmed them up for Two Door Cinema Club.’

Following GROUPLOVE was electro-rock group Penguin Prison. Lead singer Chris Glover said he would ‘sing like an angel’ for the audience. He followed through on his promise, hitting sleek falsettos over jaunty electronic guitar riffs and upbeat keyboard melodies. The audience had an impromptu dance party as the stage was taken over by flashing strobe lights and an invitation to ‘get crazy’ from Glover during a lively set.

‘I think that the opener brought some great energy to the crowd, and I got a really cool vibe from Penguin Prison,’ said Mikala Stubley, an undeclared freshman in the College of Arts and Sciences. ‘But I really came here for Two Door Cinema Club.’

As Penguin Prison disassembled its equipment and slowly departed from the stage, a buzz of nervous energy in anticipation of Two Door Cinema Club’s performance settled in the crowd. As the band’s music pulsed through speakers, the audience milled around the stage, anxiously awaiting the band members to perform their sound checks.

The silence was bound to break. As soon as the quartet of Alex Trimble, Sam Halliday, Kevin Baird and Benjamin Thompson took the stage to humming guitars, the audience broke into a loud roar of applause.

Although the band is just three years old, its presence on stage felt as though the members had many more years of experience under their belts. As they naturally choreographed through their songs with jumps and dance moves, they also worked the crowd. While the band played ‘Undercover Martyn,’ several members of the audience swayed to the beat, waving their cell phones in the air and trying to take pictures of the band.

Between songs, Two Door Cinema Club made small talk with the crowd. Bassist Baird was greeted with cheers as he held up a bottle of water and said, ‘Cheers, and thanks for having us. I wish I was holding up some alcohol instead of water right now, but that would be against the rules.’

The crowd’s energy reached a fever pitch as the band played fan-favorite singles ‘Something Good Can Work’ and ‘I Can Talk.’ The group even debuted a brand new unrecorded song for the audience, which had a favorable reception to it.

‘I think it’s cool they played a new song,’ Mazzone said. ‘It was neat that they played it for us first.’

The band played a majority of debut studio album ‘Tourist History’ throughout its set, receiving a great deal of praise from members of the audience.

‘These guys are better live than they are on album,’ Stubley said. ‘They had such fantastic stage presence. It was unbelievable.’

ervanrhe@syr.edu

Published on October 19, 2010 at 12:00 pm

Contact Erik: ervanrhe@syr.edu | @therealvandyman