Ordinarily I write thoughts on ventriloquism, the business and tips for vents.
This week though, I wanted to share something that came to my inbox. It was PR for a UK group called Two Door Cinema Club.
I’ll share their PR release, along with some thoughts of my own:
Two Door Cinema Club have shared their new video for ‘Once’, taken from their critically acclaimed and third UK top 5 album, ‘False Alarm’. The video arrives ahead of a UK arena tour commencing this October, including London’s The O2 Arena – full list of dates below.
The video for ‘Once’ sees the Bangor trio cast as deadpan ventriloquists, competing for the limelight with ostentatious dummy versions of themselves, all in a satirical and hedonistic 70s showbiz setting.
The clip features ventriloquist figures made by Idle Talk Creations. The link will lead you to the Instagram page where you can see pictures of the figures being created. Idle Talk Creations describes the business as a : Hobby ventriloquist dummy maker from Essex UK. All dummies are made from scratch.
I wasn’t familiar with this figure maker – any one who knows more, please let me know in the comments below.
‘Once’ music video directors Mathy & Fran said: “It was huge fun making this video! Knowing that the song was about narcissism in the Instagram age, we hit upon the idea of Ventriloquist dummies, which felt strangely relevant to the way we all act on social media – creating personas who speak for us, and live the lives we wish we had.
It was really enjoyable to imagine a world where Alex, Sam and Kevin are completely sidelined in favour of their celebrity dummies, and we had no idea they’d be such good puppeteers…until of course, they get to enact their revenge!”
I absolutely love the concept of the figures being linked to social media persona creation.
I’ve heard it said that a puppet can get away with saying things a person can’t. While not always true, it does relate to social media, where people hide behind a username and say things they would never say to someone’s face. (Which is just sad IMHO.)
The “revenge” mentioned in the quote was without a doubt one of my favorite moments of the video. Very funny, especially to us vents!
And the rest of their press release follows below:
Two Door Cinema Club will make a landmark return to London’s O2 Arena on October 11th with support from Tom Grennan. Dates through Cardiff, Hull and Plymouth, alongside multiple shows scheduled for O2 Academy Glasgow and O2 Victoria Warehouse in Manchester, will see support from Sports Team, Bloxx and Fuzzy Sun.
The band’s first album released in full collaboration with Prolifica Inc, ‘False Alarm’ sees Two Door Cinema Club at their creative peak. Recorded in sessions between London and LA with producer Jacknife Lee (U2, REM, The Killers), it’s an LP that takes the familiar and twists it to startling and stimulating effect. A wide-eyed, culture-encompassing leap forward for the band with a record liable to break, ruin and remould pop in 2019.
Following a landmark headline performance in front of 35,000 people at London’s Community Festival last summer, 2019 festival season has seen Two Door Cinema Club complete outstanding performances at Radio 1’s Big Weekend and on Glastonbury’s Other Stage. Elsewhere, headline slots at Tramlines, Y Not and Truck Festival saw DIY Magazine confirm, “they’ve had the crowd-pleasing hits for years, but now the trio have the stagecraft and the sparkle, too”.
Tickets for Two Door Cinema Club’s UK arena tour are on sale here – www.twodoorcinemaclub.com.
Tour Dates
- 03/10 – Cardiff, Motorpoint Arena *
- 04/10 – Glasgow, O2 Academy * (Sold Out)
- 05/10 – Glasgow, O2 Academy *
- 07/10 – Manchester, O2 Victoria Warehouse *
- 08/10 – Manchester, O2 Victoria Warehouse ^ (Sold Out)
- 10/10 – Hull, Bonus Arena ^
- 11/10 – London, The O2 &
- 13/10 – Plymouth, Pavilions ^
* w/ Sports Team and Fuzzy Sun
^ w/ Sports Team and Bloxx
& w/ Tom Grennan and Sports Team
I definitely enjoyed the video and hope you do too!
