Apologies for my absence, it’s been almost a full month with no mixtapes! What ever did you do??

To kick things back off, I’m going off the reservation a bit. I had the extreme pleasure of seeing Two Door Cinema Club at The Fox Theatre in Oakland on last week, and they blew away my expectations. I can’t remember whether I’ve seen them once or twice before, but they were festival shows which typically put a damper on the lights, production, sound, length of set, setlist, etc., so I don’t think too poorly of a band if their live performance at a festival isn’t super good.

All that being said, I remember the last Two Door show being good but not great. They sounded good but their performance was nothing too memorable. Cut to last week’s show, I went with a buddy who was a huge fan of theirs and had never seen them live and another buddy who wasn’t much of a fan but loves live shows. Needless to say, by the end of the show, all three of us were blown away.

First off, their visuals and light show were epic. Really mind blowing stuff, queued up for many songs to specifically cut in and out on different beats and parts of songs, while always showing lyrics to the beat of other songs. That alone was super impressive and better than most bands I’ve ever seen.

Secondly, and more importantly, their setlist was AMAZING. As a fan, you always wish you could create the setlist to the show you’re about to see (it’s a constant dream of mine), and I always leave a bit disappointed because 'I’m like, “Why did they play that song, this song would have been so much better. And they should have closed with this song!”

Two Door had pretty much the perfect setlist. The whole show was a banger with SO many hits. They played NINE of TEN songs from their best album, their debut, Tourist History. They started with one of the best songs on their new album, their fourth, called “Talk,” which was such a great way to start the show. The whole thing flowed seamlessly, and the band was doing some amazing transitions during songs which were a bit different than the recorded version. There’d be times they’d go on some tangent of the song and 'I’d have no idea if they were going into another song or what, but somehow they’d bring it back, with the light show and visuals aiding the whole thing, to the next verse or chorus of that song. “Whoa,” was all I could muster.

Sadly, Two Door is on the end of their US Tour, so if you didn’t see them already, you probably missed them on this ridiculously epic tour. Seriously, these kinds of tours where a band plays this good of a setlist with this kind of production is a rarity, and my assumption is I will never see another Two Door show as good as this one. I’ll let you know how the next one goes.

One other thing to mention before you leave me. My buddy (who loves them) and I were talking about how much we’ve listened to Two Door’s first two albums in the past decade, and Two Door has to be one of my top 5 most played bands of the decade solely because of their first two albums. Their second, Beacon, is a phenomenal album, a triumph to make something that good after a classic album where usually the sophomore albums are a regurgitation of the first. Both albums are beloved and will always be.

SO WITH ALL THAT BEING SAID, the mix this week is their setlist from the show! I’ve been listening to it non-stop, and I’d like you to come on a journey.

Long live Two Door Cinema Club.