Tokyo Police Club at Regent Theater in Los Angeles (review)
"There are cool things in this world, and this is one of them," said Tokyo Police Club singer David Monks during the band's sold-out show at The Regent Theater in Los Angeles last Wednesday. For the Canadian indie rock band, Los Angeles always felt like a second home. The four-piece band recorded 2010's Champ and 2018's TPC in the city along with producer Rob Schnapf. For their final time in the town, the band chose to bid farewell with a gig at The Regent Theater in downtown Los Angeles. Wednesday's sold-out crowd prompted them to add an additional night the following day.
Before Tokyo Police Club could say goodbye to the Los Angeles crowd, longtime friends Born Ruffians opened the show with a set that was a celebration of the past and present. Vocalist Luke Lalonde talked about sharing demos with Tokyo Police Club (TPC shared "Giraffe" while Born Ruffians shared "Needle" at one point) and playing a plethora of shows with them in their home country. Born Ruffians played a handful of fan favorites, including "Foxes Mate For Life" and "Miss You," but the band also showcased their new single "What A Ride," which was unveiled on Wednesday. While they celebrated Tokyo Police Club's career, Lalonde joked about having plenty more room on the Born Ruffians' bandwagon.
With a packed crowd awaiting the five-piece band, Tokyo Police Club arrived to kick off their set with "Favourite Food" from Champ. As the opening synths permeated the air, the crowd howled in excitement and sadness as they witnessed one of their favorite acts perform live one final time. Trying to come up with the right setlist is always a challenge, but when it's on a farewell tour, things can get a bit more tough. Tokyo Police Club took a page from Taylor Swift's Eras tour by playing a handful of songs from certain albums in blocks; the band dove into the first four songs from Champ before launching into Elephant Shell's first four tunes.
During the set, Monks was alone on stage with only an acoustic guitar in hand for a special stripped-down performance. The vocalist kicked off their mini-acoustic set with a short cover of The Strokes' "Under Control", which they jokingly called "indie sleaze." The vocalist then strummed their way through "The Harrowing Adventures Of..." and "Ready To Win," which is a profanity-laced tune about pushing through life after making some mistakes.
For the encore, Tokyo Police Club dove into "Argentina (Parts I, II, III)" from their Forcefield album. The eight-minute tune is the longest written by the band, which meant having it part of their set was pretty difficult outside of their initial support of Forcefield. For their final tour, however, the band had to bring out a major highlight in their discography. The three-section song based around a desired love is something many fans wished to see live again (or for the first time), and they managed to soak in the entire number in all its glory.
Following "Argentina," the band bounced through "Cheer It On," which features one of the rare instances of a band singing their own name in a song. While this trope can be seen as cheesy to some, the packed audience had no problem with screaming the band's name back at them. Tokyo Police Club concluded their set with "Your English Is Good," which is a topical tune with the forthcoming election coming through. The cries of "Give us your vote if you know what's good for you" echoed throughout the venue with Monks two-stepping on stage.
One thing that stood out from the 27-song performance was the band's overall camaraderie. The band stuck with the same four members throughout their 20-year run, which is an astonishing feat in for any musical group. Whether it was Graham running across the stage while smacking the tambourine during "Graves" or Dave leaning against the keyboardist at the end of "Nature of the Experiment," Tokyo Police Club still felt like they were back in high school. While the journey is coming to an end, a friendship that started when they were kids will never die.
Tokyo Police Club setlist
Favourite Food
Favourite Colour
Breakneck Speed
Wait Up (Boots of Danger)
Centennial
In a Cave
Juno
Graves
New Blues
Simple Dude
DLTFWYH
PCH
Hands Reversed
End of a Spark
Bambi
Frankenstein
Under Control (The Strokes cover) (acoustic)
The Harrowing Adventures Of... (acoustic)
Ready to Win (Acoustic)
Nature of the Experiment
Citizens of Tomorrow
If It Works
Be Good
Tessellate
Encore:
Argentina (Parts I, II, III)
Cheer It On
Your English Is Good
More information about Tokyo Police Club’s farewell tour can be found here.