Hippo Campus faced a sea of enthusiastic fans at The Blue Note on Friday night.
“Is this Missouri?” singer Jake Luppen asked. His question was met with screams and cheers from the crowd. “This is not the Missouri I remember,” he said as he swung into “Baseball.”
Hippo Campus drew hundreds of people for a sold-out show. The St. Paul, Minnesota, natives brought down the house with some of their most popular indie-rock hits, as well as some deeper cuts. In the past three years, the band has released three EPs and a full-length album and has made a name for itself among indie-rock fans. Since its first release in 2014, the band has played at festivals like Lollapalooza and Bonnaroo and has opened for My Morning Jacket, Modest Mouse and Walk the Moon.
The band released its most recent album, _Landmark_, last February, and the set list included many of its hits, including “Western Kids,” “Simple Season” and “Poems.” Hippo Campus’ songs detail specific memories from the band members’ lives in Minnesota and conjure up emotions that listeners easily relate to, and these songs are no exception. The band’s live sound is similar to its recorded music, with the added energy of a live show.
“Warm Glow,” a song released last September, made for a memorable experience. A crowd favorite, almost everyone could be seen singing along with the lyrics that detail intricate and intimate experiences. The bridge had people in the balcony standing, and the enchanting stage presence of the quartet made it an engaging and personal experience.
The band kept everyone captivated throughout the whole set with its chemistry and complex riffs. With all four members on vocals, the band achieves impressive and layered harmonies. By the end, when they played one of their most popular songs, “Way it Goes,” there wasn’t a person in the room who wasn’t dancing. The people seated in the balcony were on their feet and singing along, and the floor was a mass of people jumping and clapping.
After the last song, the band came back for an encore and ended the show with “Violet,” a song from one of its earlier EPs. It’s an upbeat song with loving yet melancholy lyrics, and it reflected the bittersweet nature of a last song — the mix of emotions that comes when a memorable concert comes to an end.
_Edited by Brooke Collier | bcollier@themaneater.com_