Photos and review by Zachary Coleman
“Darling, won’t you take me home” is probably a line most people have heard sung when they saw a TikTok or Instagram Reel about a scenic view or new place. “Home” was the official debut single from the band Good Neighbours and it was released on January 17, 2024. It seemed like the song was only out for at most a month until you started hearing it on almost every other TikTok on your feed. Now, the band has three more singles, a cover of Sabrina Carpenter’s 2024 summer anthem “Espresso”, nearly 10 million Spotify monthly listeners, and a debut EP releasing on October 4, 2024. What was a band who just had the debut show in November 2023 is now a band everyone recognizes and they are heading out on their world tour with their first stop in Toronto, ON on September 3, 2024.
It’s a chill night at The Axis Club Theatre (formerly known as The Mod Club). Guests are trickling into a dimly lit club floor. At 8:00 PM, Ber (pronounced Bear) opens up the show. Ber and her guitarist, Nate Walker, play a more laid back set with a few upbeat songs in the beginning and end of their set as well as a cover of “Somebody That I Used To Know” by Gotye. The crowd loved Ber being able to interact with her and giving her a lot of love during her opening set.
This is a very unique tour because Good Neighbours don’t have that many songs to their name yet and to headline a tour, you need to perform songs. Are they going to perform a lot of covers? Are they going to perform unreleased music no one knows yet? Since it was the opening night of the tour, no one could look up a setlist to even get a glimpse of what the night could look like. Everyone was going in blind and that was exciting.
Good Neighbours opened their set with their second single “Keep it Up.” A song most everyone in the room knew. The crowd was excited and really into Good Neighbours right as they stepped on stage. The atmosphere almost felt like the band had a well developed fan base already. The band then went into unreleased music including their song “Weekend Boy.” “Weekend Boy” is about “falling in love on the weekends” according to the band and will release with the rest of their debut EP on October 4, 2024. The band played their unique take on “Espresso” and played the song everyone was there to hear, “Home.” However, “Home” was not the final song. The final song played was their electric third single, “Daisies,” and it was an excellent show closer.
The band played eleven songs total for about 50 minutes and six of those songs were unreleased. The one thing I noticed is the band never lost momentum. Not even once. The band seemed like they had been doing this for years. They had a stage presence most bands dream of having with their audience. I listened to a podcast where someone was describing viral songs as the new one hit wonders and how those artists aren’t ready for the spotlight. The argument is that it takes years of experience to be able to pull off a show, not just one song. Good Neighbours proved that podcast wrong with their performance. Even though 50 minutes may be considered short for a headlining set, Good Neighbours didn’t waste any second they were on stage. I look forward to seeing where this band goes because I’m sure they’re on their way up and will get to the top very quickly.
