PHOTOS + REVIEW: THE NEIGHBOURHOOD AT THE OBSERVATORY (SANTA ANA, CA)

Hunny (CA) and The Neighbourhood (CA)
February 7th, 2016
The Observatory in Santa Ana, CA

The Drought Tour blew through Southern California this past weekend with back to back very sold out shows at The Observatory in Santa Ana.  Diehard fans came out in droves to catch The Neighbourhood and friends in Hunny and Casinos put on a hell of a show.  When I say diehard, I absolutely mean diehard.  Fans had been outside of the venue as early as 3 AM in anticipation of the show.

Due to traffic on the way to the show, I completely missed Casinos’ set but made it inside just in time for Hunny.  I had heard a lot about the band, but had for one reason or another missed every chance to catch them live.  Their set tonight was bittersweet to me because they were great and now I knew what I had been missing.  I’m absolutely looking forward to catching Hunny again.

Before I knew it The Neighbourhood was on stage and the first notes of “Greetings From Califournia” were blasting through the speakers.  It didn’t take long for the energy at The Observatory to escalate.  By their second song, “Prey” the entire crowd was in motion and singing along.  All eyes were on frontman Jesse Rutherford, as he moved across the stage serenading the sold-out crowd.  The band was calm, cool, and collected as they played song after song with hardly any stops in between.  They got to “Daddy Issues,” “Cry Baby,” and “The Beach” among their several other hits.  Fans never missed a beat as they were constantly in motion with their arms and cellphones in the air, loving and appreciating each time Rutherford made contact with the lucky few at the barricade.  They sounded incredible and even though they did without the elaborate screens from The Flood tour their live show was anything but boring.  The Neighbourhood has clearly gotten it all down to a science while still managing to present an effortlessly cool and virtually flawless show.  Don’t miss your chance to see the band live, their upcoming tour dates can be seen here.  Also, where do I get one of those NWO patches?