I can’t dance. I feigned my way through grade school talent shows, stumbled over my feet at high school homecoming dances, hoping that one day I would grow out of it. A few weeks into my second year here at UW-Madison, and I found an unofficial dance studio with live music that accepts my awkward dance moves.
Moved indoors to the Majestic to beat the gloomy, damp weather, this Live on King Street event had a different vibe than earlier concerts in the series, contained indoors instead of sprawling to the Capitol. My friends and I ventured into the rain Friday night, dodging puddles around the Capitol toward the glowing Majestic Theatre sign, hyped about seeing the last show of the Live on King Street concert series. The concert coordinators ended the series with an unforgettable lineup, opening the show with the local band The Hussy and the young Minnesotan band Hippo Campus, leading up to headliner Benjamin Booker.
The Hussy falls into the category of your stereotypical local garage band. With confusing lyrics spewed out at a rate too fast for the average human to understand, the band caught the growing crowd’s attention. Band members Bobby Hussy and Heather Hussy describe themselves on their website as “Wisconsin's deranged psych punk duo,” and recently debuted their fourth album Galore in June 2015. Most memorable about The Hussy’s performance might not have been what was happening onstage, but what was happening in the crowd. A very enthusiastic audience member, referred to by the band as “Marco,” jumped around nonstop, gesturing and grooving to the music. A sweaty hazard within the crowd, Marco was much more enjoyable once the band invited him onstage, enlivening an otherwise repetitive set.
As the rain continued to pour outside, 600 concert attendees were lucky enough to not only beat the rain, but also hear Hippo Campus play. The young indie-pop band formed after attending the same performing arts high school in Saint Paul.
The band revved up the crowd within seconds, and as my friends witnessed, their fast paced tunes couldn’t hold me back from dancing. Their relatively young age only gave the band more energy as they played off the crowd’s mood throughout the night. Stepping onto the stage in what appeared to be an old bowling or janitor’s shirt with the name “Lonnie” embroidered on the front, lead singer Jake Luppen spent the set moving around the stage.
Hippo Campus demonstrated their cohesive sound as Luppen danced with fellow band members, often with his tongue sticking out. His facial expressions were as emotive as his vocals, as he focused on each lyric he delivered. Luppen and guitarist Nathan “Stitches” Stocker, bassist Zach “Espo” Sutton and drummer Whistler “Beans” Allen timed every note perfectly, each beat expertly in sync.
Luppen continued to play with the crowd throughout the night, starting out by introducing himself as the lead singer of Coldplay, Chris Martin, and chimed in with a short melody of the British band’s song “Fix You.” Hippo Campus played singles off their first EP “Bashful Creatures” and kept the crowd on its toes by playing new songs off their upcoming EP “South,” set for an early October release.
The fast paced dancing during Hippo Campus’ set shifted into a slower headbanging and toe-tapping as New Orleans-based singer-songwriter Benjamin Booker took the stage. You didn’t have to know his entire discography to get into Booker’s music. His guitar strumming brings back a 1970s classic rock style, throwing in a bluesy twist. Booker’s style reflects a type of modern jazz, and he’s an artist whose tunes you can imagine hearing while walking down a crowded street in New Orleans.
While some of Booker’s more upbeat songs broke through the mediocrity of his overall performance, it wasn’t enough the keep audience members captivated until the end of the show. Overpowering drum beats may have also contributed to driving people out the door. Although Booker is talented, his performance too closely fit the mold of classic rock to be interesting or particularly impressive. Perhaps within the context of the usual outdoor venue for Live on King Street, Booker would have gone over better with the crowd.
