Images: The Neighbourhood, Kitten, Born Casual March 8, 2014 at the House of Blues

If you’ve listened to the radio at all in the past few months, then chances are you’ve heard at least one catchy hook by California’s The Neighbourhood. Their songs “Sweater Weather” and “Afraid” have taken over the airwaves everywhere. The band was in Las Vegas early last year playing at a much smaller venue, to a much smaller crowd –  but things were a bit different March 8, as they played a sold-out show at The House of Blues with support by indie synth-pop group Kitten and Providence, RI-based DJ Born Casual.

It was ten minutes into opener Born Casual’s set before I realized this was a DJ, and not just the house music playing over the PA. The stage remained dark, making it literally impossible to get any usable images, and to be honest, I was not impressed. I just didn’t feel the hype that you would expect from an opener, much less a DJ. The young crowd was more into the music than I was though, and some danced and sang along to the mix of popular hiphop songs.

When Kitten took the stage, the energy in the venue multiplied. This was my first time hearing the female-fronted group despite them playing Vegas just a few months before at the tiny Eagle Aerie Hall. Led and formed by Chloe Chaidez, the band plays a mix of indie rock and synth pop. I’d describe it as 80s synth pop, but since I was born in 1991 – you should probably take that with a grain of salt. Anyways, I now consider myself a Kitten fan. Chaidez has some seriously great stage presence and I was impressed to see her brave the tall stage and jump down to the floor to interact with fans. She even participated in a little crowd surfing.

The sold-out venue erupted as The Neighbourhood took the stage, and the mostly-female crowd erupted in screams of frontman Jesse Rutherford’s name. Accompanied by harsh white lights and strobes (accented by the band’s black and white get-up and hair-dos,) the group played a string of hits from their first full length album I Love You. The opening song was an intro to new track “Silver” and then the band went into the older hit, “Female Robbery.” Fans who’ve been following them since before the full-length were also treated to “A Little Death.” And of course, they closed the show with radio hits, “Sweater Weather” and “Afraid,” which left the entire place singing along and satisfied. I would have loved to have heard a few more songs, and I’m surprised that no one yelled for an encore. I look forward to their next show in Vegas, because their set was definitely one of my favorites so far this year.

-Tylor Thuirer | https://www.flickr.com/photos/thuirermedia/