The Neighbourhood’s Electric Comeback
After a near decade long hiatus, The Neighbourhood has its comeback with its newest album (((((ultraSOUND))))). They bring back the band’s iconic upside-down house stamp, nostalgic for their hallmark alternative indie rock style but now with a flair for the dream pop!
Their 2026 world tour performance in Paris was nothing short of an intoxicating throwback with a technological edge! The Neighbourhood performed at the Zénith Paris Concert Hall in La Villette, starting off the concert with ‘Hula Girl’ and finishing with the 2000’s techno inspired ‘Red Flag’, both from their new album. The energy was electrifying from beginning to end, and the audience was on a high, but what are they trying to tell us with these choices? These two tracks directly juxtapose and complement each other while discussing the modern dating sphere. The image of the adored angel-like dashboard hula girl that remains present while everything else goes wrong, the longing for stability and care. All this while finding ourselves in toxic relationships that leave us emotionally manipulated and confused, while still longing for that connection and wishing for that ‘hula girl’. But thats just one part of the depth of their performance.
I also couldn’t leave out the highlights of the concert : the vibrant and eclectic artistic visuals! The audience was welcomed with their own personal AI guide for the evening, IRIS. A smooth and enchanting voice surrounded by ambulant fiery red lights on the screen, that left us with a strange feeling of excitement while the dark stage was being set up. And of course the band often maintained their dreamy blue hues as lights flooding the audience and stage. Especially during ‘Planet’, where the blue LEDs, light shows, and beautiful projections of stars, really made you feel like you were floating in space.
The audience was ecstatic, and could be heard singing along at all times. More than ever, during the sweet throwback of ‘Sweater Weather’, and you can be sure we all screamed our lungs out at the end. The most passionate moment for this french crowd was definitely during ‘A little death’, when Jesse Rutherford (vocals) sang shirtless in front of a massive red screen displaying the original title in french : “la petite mort”. The natural use of this expression in french I probably shouldn’t describe in much detail here, but let’s just say the sweaty hot and bothered energy in the room really matched it… And still this wasn’t all, the gloomy passionate energy shifted to mellow ballads, wandered into euphoric instrumentals, and ended with an electric rave for a finale, with half the band shirtless, and everyone in the audience jumping off the ground. What a way to end the show. Can’t wait for the next.
Written by Sofia Wiazovski.