Grouplove's Ultimate Encore
"I'm on an acid trip on the Sunset Strip," chanted everyone in the Hard Rock Cafe on Hollywood Boulevard on Wednesday, June 29, 2016. The crowd were excited because Los Angeles band, Grouplove, returned to the stage after a long hiatus. The band started the show with an important deep cut titled, "Beans on Pizza." Hundreds of fans circled the round mini stage, which was a work of art in itself, that propped up the Indie Rock heroes.
Grouplove's unique set list was a lineup of encore material—after all, the free show was part of a new project by Live Nation TV and the Hard Rock Cafe called "The Encore Live," which will be aired the first week of August. Grouplove is composed of vocalists (and spouses) Christian Zucconi and Hannah Hooper, lead guitarist Andrew Wessen, drummer and producer Ryan Rabin, and bassist Daniel Gleason. They jumped into "Don't Say Oh Well," one of the first songs they wrote as a band.
The care free, summery tune is about traveling, leaving everything you know behind, and all without regret. This song invigorated the crowd and they jumped along with the band. They were able to contain their thrashing to not hit their heads on the exequisite chandelier that hovered above the stage. These upside down lamps boasted the color scheme of the cover art for Grouplove's highly anticipated third album, "Big Mess" which Hannah Hooper proudly announced will premier on September.
Christian Zucconi surprised the crowd when he played the first notes of "Spiderhead," a song by Cage the Elephant. Grouplove's dedicated fans never dreamed they would get to hear this cover played live, as the band has only played it once before on an Australian radio show. Grouplove performed the dainty version of the song, which is usually yelled out and head banged to. They calmed the crowd down, but not enough to keep them from singing every single word along with Hannah and Christian's complimentary voices.
After belting out the emotional tune, Hannah announced that would be the last song of the night, immediately inciting boo's from the audience. She then reminded everyone the theme of the night, explaining that the band was actually going to come back out for an encore. Alleviated, the fans were ready to rock out to the last song of the night—a brand new track from their Big Mess album, "Traumatized." The song began with the drummer squealing a countdown followed by a power chord progression and Christian's vocal storytelling. The song is a preview to Grouplove's junior album and is reminiscent of the Pixies. It pleased the fans who have been desperately waiting for new jams to rock out to since the band's last release in 2013.
The song ended with a bang as Christian jumped off the mini-sized drum set and then he hugged his dedicated fans before leaving the stage. The crowd cheerily chanted "Encore! Encore!" knowing that Grouplove would promptly return. True to tradition, Grouplove jumped back on stage to play their final encore song, "Colours." The group has closed every show with this hit since they started as a band in 2009. The crowd went nuts as Hannah stole the show with her signature dance moves.
The crowd enjoyed hit songs during the encore such as the energetic and tropical song, "Shark Attack," and anthem-worthy song, "Tongue Tied." "Ways to Go" is a song with a call-and-response chorus, provoked a contagious jumping movement from those off and on-stage. When the encore show ended, Grouplove showered their fans with love at the Hard Rock Cafe and promised to see them again very soon.
Event Feature by Alysia Verdin of @grouplovefansofficial
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