I’ve had the opportunity to see a wide and strange collection of items thrown onto stages during concerts throughout the years: bras, underwear and phone numbers scribbled on Post-it notes. But Thursday night’s Hippo Campus show at the Majestic Theatre added a new one to my record book: Halloween candy.
The young indie-pop band from Minnesota, composed of lead singer and guitarist Jake “Turntan” Luppen, guitarist Nathan “Stitches” Stocker, bassist Zach “Espo” Sutton and drummer Whistler “Beans” Allen, kicked off the first concert of its new tour for its latest EP “South.” Hippo Campus kept the attendees,both young and old, on their feet all night, packed onto the floor of the Majestic.
The theatre was the perfect haven from the constant rain for early bird concert attendees who waited for the first opening act, Fargo, a band made up of four 20-somethings from Geneva, Ill. Just as my friends and I admired the baseball-style Wisconsin shirt of a random guy standing next to us drinking a beer, he ran through a door and suddenly appeared on stage, introducing himself as the lead singer of Fargo.
Fargo’s head bob-inducing beats and indie-pop-rock style melodies played the exact role of any first opening act; it slowly got the audience to put down their phones and focus on the stage. The band read the mood of the audience, playing songs tailored to the generally younger audience. Even though I stood only a few feet from a main speaker in the Majestic, it was difficult to understand the lyrics lead singer Ryan Thomas rapidly sang with a wide-eyed gaze and spastic but engaging expressions.
The band’s uplifting tunes transitioned well into the second opening act of the night, Bad Bad Hats, another indie-rock band from Minnesota. The trio met while attending Macalester College in St. Paul before producing an EP and signing with a record label. Lead singer Kerry Alexander’s stage presence was a sharp contrast from the facially expressive Thomas, but still captured the attention of the growing audience. The band made sly jokes throughout their set, commenting on the muses of their upbeat and light songs, ranging from bad breakups to gas stations. Although I came to the concert only knowing a few of Bad Bad Hats’ singles, it didn’t take long for me to want to learn their entire musical catalog.
I’ve never been one of the lucky few—or rather a timely enough person—to stand front row at a concert, but I broke a personal record Thursday by getting up to second row, making me feel like I was getting my own private concert as Hippo Campus played. It wasn’t long into the band’s set before the aforementioned Halloween candy-throwing started. The stage was littered with Crunch Bars, Twix and Hershey's, a glorious mix of blue, gold and brown plastic flickering under the lights. The band thanked the mysterious teenage girls behind me who threw the candy, resulting in a high-pitch squeal from the throwers themselves. Lead singer Luppen spent the entire show dancing, jumping and singing barefoot, somehow avoiding hundreds of splinters from the rough uneven wooden Majestic floor.
Hippo Campus played a medley of their songs, switching off from top hits from their first EP “Bashful Creatures,” to the new songs off “South,” mixed with unreleased songs off a previously-cancelled LP. Every song caused the audience to break out into a dance which lasted until the band left the stage--although for myself it’s less of a “dance” and more of a desperate attempt to keep my arms and legs in sync while jumping. The second Luppen’s barefoot feet walked backstage, the crowd joined together screaming “encore,” and Hippo Campus returned for one last song.
The only wild card song that didn’t fit with the upbeat mood of the set, “The Halocline,” was the perfect song to end the concert. The song is completely lyric-less for the first minute and a half, settling down the crowd as the lights dimmed and a single guitar chord slowly echoed into the venue. It slowly built as listeners--including the band’s families and friends sitting in the balcony--started swaying to the heavy beat, and cheers broke out as the song finished and Hippo Campus stepped offstage.
All three of Thursday’s acts at the Majestic served as representatives for young Midwestern bands, becoming stronger as the night progressed. My rain-soaked friends and I walked home, performing our own encore of the show, just with tone-deaf voices and less energy than Hippo Campus.
