Hippo Campus played Boston House of Blue Sunday March 6. PHOTO CREDIT: Maddie Bataille | Photo Editor
I became a fan of the band Hippo Campus at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.
On Sunday, March 6, I got to see the band live at Boston House of Blues after being a fan of their music for two years.
The return of in-person concerts over the past year has been something long-awaited, and this was my second show back since the pandemic started. The post-concert depression is definitely lingering around as I am writing this, but nevertheless, I am grateful for being able to go.
Hippo Campus is an indie rock band from Saint Paul, Minnesota. The group has been on tour for their newest album “LP3,” released at the beginning of 2022, but they have been making music together since 2013.
Seeing the band live was quite an experience because they like to use voice effects and synths to create a modern sound. However, the band claimed they were having technical difficulties.
“This is live music Boston, but that’s why we love to do this,” said Jake Luppen, one of the lead singers of the band. Any tech problems were unnoticeable to me and the rest of the crowd.
My favorite part of concerts is getting to hear older songs, especially in smaller venues like the Boston House of Blues. The energy that arises from the crowd to the beginning notes of a song from an album or two ago, is unbeatable.
One of the first songs they played off their old albums was “warm glow.” This song, while usually chill, was transformed into an exciting piece. Accomplished by the band building up excitement for the lyrics with an extended intro and lights beating like a heart. In hindsight, this may have been one of the technical difficulties they were talking about, but I think it made the performance even better.
I can tell the band loves what they do by their interactions with the crowd. The lead vocalist and guitarists, Jake Luppen and Nathan Stocker were funny to see in action. They added humor to their mistakes and made the audience feel like they were being listened to back.
Someone had yelled out a request for them to play a song off their first EP, called “Suicide Saturday.” Originally Stocker had teased that they don’t play that song anymore but then announced a little later that it was a song they don’t usually play but wanted to give the crowd that attention back.
This very well could be something they play usually, as it is one of their more popular songs. Because of this, I want to believe that our show was their favorite to play.
The band definitely knew their audience, even from the beginning of the show. Artist Jelani Aryeh opened the night. This musician is most known for their songs, “Marigold” and “Stella Brown,” both of which always exist on my playlists alongside songs from Hippo Campus.
Hippo Campus started their set with the song “2 Young 2 Die” off their newest album, which created high energy for the rest of the night. Some other hits that were played off “LP3” were “Ride or Die” and “Boys.”
The night ended with a two-song encore of “Bambi” and “Buttercup.” The performance left me singing both songs while walking out of the venue, wishing it hadn’t ended.
Overall, Hippo Campus put on a fantastic performance which, even though it’s only March, kicked off a great start to the spring and summer months ahead.