Playing in support of Bloc Party last night at the Wamu Theather, Tokyo Police Club played a 30+ minute set composed of both new tunes from their upcoming LP and old song from their various EPs. The crowd embraced the band with quite a bit enthusiasm, singing along to most of the songs.
Their set was energetic and lively. The sound was for the most part solid though at times the instrumentation seemed a bit muddled. The band opened as they traditionally do with “Cheer it On”, which was followed by two news songs that I suppose will be released on their upcoming debut LP. The songs were interesting and it is apparent that they are trying to mature in their sound. The sound is more diverse, the lyrics seem more smart. But then again, I really can’t judge a new song based off of a live performance.However, at times, it felt like Tokyo Police Club was lacking something. And this isn’t the first time I’ve felt this way about their live performances. Last night was my second time seeing them and both times I came away from the show a bit underwhelmed. The band is extremely talented, but they seem perhaps lost in their direction. The highlights of their set were the expected – their performances of “Nature of Experiment”, “Be Good” and “Citizens of Tomorrow”. But when the band shifted to songs off other EPs, they, nor the crowd seemed to embrace it with as much enthusiasm.Tokyo Police Club has the potential to be very good. But it just feels like they are lacking something. Maybe I’ve just been to two average performances, but I will be really interested to see what comes from their upcoming LP. I think they’re searching for that right “sound”, that right “direction”. And when they find it, they should easily be able to reach that next pestle.
Sound: B+
Crowd: B
Set: B+
Overall: B-
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