“Whatever you do, just make sure you’re being creative and doing sh*t with your hands!”, Grouplove frontrunner Hannah Hooper said to a crowd of young adults as they listened on Tuesday, September 2nd at the Masquerade Music Park in Atlanta, Georgia. Grouplove is an alternative rock band based out of sunny California that reps hippie vibes and a message to push all of their fans to keep art alive. Consisting of lead vocals and guitar by Christian Zucconi, vocals and keyboard by Hannah Hooper, bass guitar by Daniel Gleason, guitar by Andrew Wessen, and drums by Ryan Rabin, this band is always sure to put on a performance that will leave your ears buzzing for days post performance.
The night started out as me and a buddy of mine made our way up to Atlanta for the Honda Civic tour featuring Typhoon, Portugal. The Man, and Grouplove. We waited in line for a bit and eventually made our way to the barricade in front of the stage to await the nights festivities. Typhoon made their way to the stage and played their set which included their hit song “Young Fathers”. Their indie rock sound made me a new fan for sure. After their set came Portugal. The Man which was co-headlining with Grouplove. They played their set as the sun went down over the Atlanta skyline. Their psychedelic rock sound got the crowd ready for the performance to come.
Finally, The sun had set and the crowd grew antsy as the song “Come Together” by the Beatles started playing over the speakers. This had been my third time seeing Grouplove come to Atlanta so I knew that this song meant they were about to make their glorious arrival to the stage. Eventually, they stormed the stage as the crowd of awaiting fans went crazy. The band danced around the stage until their opening song “I’m With You” started playing. The long and anticipating intro to the song pumped up the audience that gave them energy to last throughout the whole set. Before long, they were running off the stage before arriving back to perform the encore.
At this time they came back on and performed their song “Colours” and announced that they would be joined by fellow co-headlining act Portugal. The Man and lead singer of a band out of Atlanta called Manchester Orchestra. Once everybody made their way to the stage the beginning chords of the hit The Who song “Baba O’riley” began and the crowd went wild. They danced around the stage and had a blast until finally Grouplove said their goodbyes and were done wight he set.
The only way to describe Grouplove in concert is “electric”. They light a spark with their sound that spreads like wildfire throughout the audience. Their joyful sound and carefree personality is inspirational to keep you living life not so seriously. Grouplove is one of my favorite groups out right now and I truly recommend anybody to join the bandwagon!
Written by: Lyncoln Doggett
(All photos belong to their rightful owners)