The Neighbourhood kicked off its Miami concert Thursday night with lead singer Jesse Rutherford descending from the heavens like Jesus Christ, as thousands of young women screamed like banshees.

Rutherford was covered in silver, wearing a skin-tight metallic shirt and matching pants, with red eyeshadow on one eye, blue on the other, and bright red lipstick. He looked like a cross between David Bowie and the Tin Man from The Wizard of Oz.

It was a hell of an entrance.

And there was a vibe in the Kaseya Center from the jump.

The moody, atmospheric California indie-rock band returned to Miami on a Thursday night in early November, with Mercury in retrograde, and an arena full of screaming fans who couldn’t have been happier.

The Neighbourhood has been around for roughly 15 years, breaking through in 2013 with the massive hit “Sweater Weather.” The band last played Miami at the Fillmore in 2015, making this a homecoming. It’s been 11 years, although most of the young fans in attendance were probably in elementary school back then.

Miami doesn’t get nearly enough alternative and indie-rock concerts of this size. Live Nation tends to send these bands north to Broward or West Palm Beach, where the demographic is traditionally more receptive. But The Neighbourhood has clearly transcended those boundaries.

The Neighbourhood Miami Review

The Kaseya Center was packed, with seemingly every seat occupied. The crowd was overwhelmingly young and female, a sea of Wednesday Addams types, many appearing to be under 21. The ratio of women to men seemed about five to one.

The beer vendors weren’t thrilled. Everyone was buying water.

But what a joy to watch so many people having the time of their lives.

The band hit the stage promptly at 9 p.m., playing nearly half an hour nonstop before a brief set break and costume change. Rutherford returned around 9:41 p.m., having somehow turned his sex appeal up to Megatron level ten.

Gone was the silver Tin Man outfit. Now he wore a leather jacket with nothing underneath, revealing a tattooed torso and possibly the most ridiculously defined washboard abs I’ve ever seen.

Looked like he was wearing a T-shirt with fake abs printed on it.

Nope. That’s the real deal.

There were eight musicians onstage, but make no mistake, this was Rutherford’s show. He’s got the brooding, rebellious charisma of a young Johnny Depp mixed with a little James Dean, a little David Bowie, and a healthy dose of emo-rock swagger.

He’s arguably one of the more compelling frontmen in alternative pop today, and the audience was absolutely eating it up.

The concert itself was cleverly structured, unfolding almost like a theatrical production divided into chapters. The band’s current WOURLD TOUR has been organized around different musical eras and identities, moving from the silver-painted Chip Chrome persona into darker, more intimate territory.

Recent shows have featured songs including “Pretty Boy,” “Lost in Translation,” “Afraid,” “Daddy Issues,” “Sweater Weather,” and “Softcore,” a mixture of atmospheric ballads, indie-rock anthems, and the kind of moody pop that made The Neighbourhood famous.

Miami Show

What stood out most wasn’t necessarily the musical complexity or the elaborate staging. It was the atmosphere. The screaming, the anticipation, the collective devotion to a band that has clearly meant something to an entire generation of young fans.

For all its melancholy, dark aesthetics, and brooding sexuality, The Neighbourhood delivered something surprisingly simple Thursday night: Joy.

Thousands of people singing, screaming, dancing, and losing their minds over music they love.

You gotta love it when people are loving shit.

There goes the Neighbourhood.

And Miami was more than happy to let them in.