The Neighbourhood gives a powerfully cinematic performance in Los Angeles before heading up north for two sold-out shows in Oakland.
Old movie clips of Clint Eastwood and from Alice in Wonderland flicker behind the band as yet another bra flies onto stage at lead singer Jesse Rutherford. The Neighbourhood played their atmospheric and moody music to a screaming crowd — at The Greek Theatre in Los Angeles — last night, with all the cool and ease one would expect from a band which is exclusively filmed and photographed in black and white.
The show’s visuals really conveyed the band’s stylized vibe with allusions to their West Coast roots in the background images of palm trees and cars driving down the Pacific Coast Highway. Rutherford looked like a modern-day greaser, shirtless and donning only a black leather jacket with “Califournia” stitched across the back. With multiple shout-outs of love for California, and the same sentiment echoed in their music, The Neighbourhood is definitely a fun band to see in their home state of California. The show was a black-and-white cinematic experience.
The Neighbourhood lead singer in his black leather “Califournia” jacket. Photo by Gabriela Groth.
While the whole band played live amazingly, the show was really centered around frontman Rutherford. No less than three bras were thrown to him on stage, and the excitement of the ladies in the crowd seemed to fuel Jesse’s singing and salacious dance moves. He loved the attention and the crowd loved him.
The band played all of their big hits like “Sweater Weather” and “Afraid,” along with some newer material. With one of their new songs, they played a one-minute sample with the lyrics simply displayed on the back screen in black and white. This particularly effective way of introducing new material kept up the crowd energy and interest through songs they may not have heard yet.
The performance also showcased a new hip-hop sound the band seems to be integrating into their music. This sound was introduced with opening act rapper Danny Brown, and continued as they played by their new song “West Coast” featuring Rutherford rapping over a stripped-down drum-heavy beat. Rapper Casey Veggies, who collaborated with The Neighbourhood on new song “Jealou$y” off of their new mixtape “#000000 & #FFFFFF,” also made a cameo.
Check out The Neighbourhood’s sold-out shows at the Fox Theater in Oakland tonight.