It’s a feat to sell out a 6,000 capacity venue for one night but to sell out two back-to-back nights is a testament to how popular The Neighbourhood, the California band that started 15 years ago, has become. And after a three year break, The Neighbourhood’s fans showed that they’ve been patiently waiting for that return.
The band recently released their fifth studio album, (((((ultraSOUND)))))) just before the new year. It’s a return to their earlier work with a decidedly laid-back feel on most of the record with plenty of cool sounds for the start of the Summer heat.
At The Anthem, by the time The Neighbourhood’s set was to start the sound the sheer volume from fan anticipation was deafening.
With a booming bass thrum, the massive screen behind the stage flashed as a computerized voice called out “Can you hear me?,” readying the crowd for what was to come. And as the screen went dark it was just as quickly showing the upside down house logo that The Neighbourhood used in years past.
At that point this capacity audience went nuts, screaming at the top of its collective lungs. Jesse Rutherford, the band’s front person, walked up to the mic dressed in coolly in a black leather jacket and sunglasses as the band went straight into “Hula Girl” from the new record as a wall of fans sang back every word to the single.
For this tour, the band has split the massive setlist into three distinct sections with the first part the more rocking section with grooves like “Prey” from their 2015 LP Wiped Out! and “Afraid” from their debut I Love You with a few slower exceptions.
One thing that I noticed that was different from a lot of shows at The Anthem was the liberal use of cameras, but once The Neighbourhood hit the stage it was apparent how much all of this created an engaging presentation.
For example, during the song “Planet” a huge earth-like planet spun, accenting the feel of the song before the set changed virtually, adding a wall of flames at the back of the stage on “Devil’s Advocate.” But I think my favorite was how seamlessly images of waves washing the shoreline over top of the real-time images of Rutherford laying flat on the stage made it seem like he was about to be pulled out to sea on the song “The Beach” in the second part of the show.
Listen to the new single from The Neighborhood, “Lovebomb” and their Official Video for the song:
There was a recorded break in between sections before Jesse Rutherford returned to tell the crowd that they were in store for the more “emo” portion of the night as they kicked off that second half with the solemn acoustic start of “Baby Came Home 2/Valentines.”
The Neighbourhood played through a little bit of everything with, understandably, the bulk of the set coming from the new record and Wiped Out! which just celebrated its 10th anniversary. This mammoth set wrapped up with an encore of a couple of the band’s biggest fan favorites, “Sweater Weather” and “Softcore.”
The setlist included:
Set 1
Hula Girl
OMG
Cry Baby
Prey
Reflections
R.I.P. 2 My Youth
A Little Death
Afraid
You Get Me So High
Fallen Star
Nervous
Planet
Wish You Were Mine
Devil’s Advocate
Set 2
Baby Came Home 2
The Beach
Void
Pretty Boy
Cherry Flavoured
Daddy Issues
Good Grief
Private
Encore:
Lovebomb
Sweater Weather
Softcore
Check out more photos of The Neighbourhood at the first of two sold-out nights at The Anthem on April 10, 2026. All photos are copyright David LaMason:
Nice work. Stage lighting is difficult to deal with and these are really nice and sharp.