Formed in 2011 by friends Jesse Rutherford, Jeremy Freedman, Zach Abels, Mikey Margott and Bryan Sammis, the band released two EPs, “I’m Sorry…” which contained the explosive “Sweater Weather” in 2012. Later that same year, the band released a second EP entitled “Thank You.”
By early 2013 the band released their first full-length album “I Love You” and the announcement of their performance at the Coachella music festival that year. Because of the success of their EPs, “I Love You” debuted 39th on the Billboard200 albums chart, with “Sweater Weather” reaching number one on the Billboard alternative chart by June 2013. The release of the album meant a tour; a tour that they called “The Love Collection Tour” alongside bands JMSN, Lovelife and The 1975.
Riding the success of all their successful tours and festivals, the band premiered a new song “Silver” on BBC 1 radio in December 2013, and in January released “Honest” for the Spiderman 2 soundtrack. Around the same time, they also announced the “#000000 & #FFFFFF” project (aka Black & White) to be released sometime during 2014. Despite the loss of drummer Bryan Sammis (and the consequent gain of Brandon Fried) they again set out on a world tour, “Le Tour Noir” in 2014.
The band is adamant about maintaining a certain image, having turned down television appearances that wouldn’t film in black and white. The artistic style has maintained a great importance to The Neighbourhood, and when asked about it, frontman Jesse Rutherford responds, “It’s important to stick to something. The black and white image was one defining thing for us where we were like ‘we’re gonna do that, we’re gonna keep it.”
How do I even begin to describe The Neighbourhood concert? For starters, The Neighbourhood is by far the best band I've seen live and this was the second time I saw them. Jesse carries so much energy with him while performing on stage. The only thing I wasn't too happy about was the turn out of the crowd. As they said they did book a "hilariou$ly over$ized" venue but come on,who in their right mind wouldn't want to see such a talented and energetic band? I think they're very underrated and they deserve a lot more attention than they receive. Regardless of the turnout, The Neighbourhood made it their best efforts to wow the crowd that they had in front of them and I assure you that's exactly what they did. The crowd, while it was a small one, was so engaged in the concert and clearly no one was dissappointed. The setlist that they put together couldn't have been anymore perfect and it was exciting to hear new songs that haven't been previously released yet. Although the first Neighbourhood concert I attended I was able to meet Jesse and Zach, I liked this one a lot better because I was so much closer and could feel the energy and enjoy the concert more. Their music is so unique that it's hard not to instantly fall in love with them.To anyone who hasn't seen or even heard of The Neighbourhood I highly recommend you check them out. You won't be dissappointed.