With a love for the West coast and anything black and white, The Neighbourhood has become a veritable monochrome tour de force. The California quintet rolled through Chicago’s Aragon Ballroom last week, and from the moment I arrived at the venue, I knew this was going to be special. I’ve been to quite a few shows at this point in my life, but I have never seen a line the likes of which formed outside the Aragon Monday night. Yes, on a Monday night I witnessed, like an unhealthy growth, a line of shivering bodies stretch down the block, around the corner, down another block and through a supermarket parking lot. Lucky me, I got to stand at the back of it.
 
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Finally, and surprisingly faster than I thought, I was let in just in time to catch the thrashing opening act, Kitten, let loose on stage. Lead singer Chloe Chaidez was as entertaining to watch as she was to listen to, as she fireballed her way up to balconies, onto the crown and off speakers throughout the opening set.

But it was The Neighbourhood that the sold out crowd came to see. And while their wardrobe, photo shoots, album covers and music videos are all branded black and white (I even had to shoot the whole concert in monochrome), their live show is anything but. From the moment lead singer Jesse Rutherford took the stage, the crowd – consisting of more teen girls than I could have imagined – erupted, hanging on every melodic syllable dripping off his tongue. Playing through their library of hypnotic, highly contagious tracks, The Neighbourhood entranced the audience as they played through favorites such as “Silver”, “No Grey”, and “Let It Go”. As the show crescendoed toward it’s peak, the band announced that this was the biggest show they had ever played in the States before they broke into the best version of “Sweater Weather” I’ve ever heard.

With their sultry indie rock vibes and sexy west coast appeal, The Neighbourhood has a massive future ahead of them and, although I’m not a huge fan of overplayed Top 40 hits, are primed for a Top 40 radio hit – which, despite my feelings, is a great achievement for any musician. Check out all the monochromatic music magic in our photo recap below and scroll down to see if The Neighbourhood will be playing in your city soon!
 

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