Hippo Campus at the Neptune

Most openers are met with mixed reviews, grumbles, and “When is the ACTUAL show starting”s. Now, Now (Also, from the Minneapolis area), the opener, was an exception Thursday night. The band reminded me of a pop-y-er, safer Paramore. Many of the vocal performances were solid, but the only songs I really gravitated towards was their performances of “Yours” and “MJ” off their new album, Saved.

They received a positive vibe from the attendees consistently through their set. This led to the band’s drummer in a addition to the lead vocalist, Cacie Dalager to constantly thank the audience for the support. At one point, the band repeated the same “Thank you so much for your support Seattle” schpeal after finishing 4 songs, four separate times. The over-thanking from the band was sweet, but took away a lot of momentum of the set itself, leaving an awkward taste in my mouth.

At around 9:15pm, Hippocampus came on. To preface this, I myself, do not listen to much Hippocampus. My friend Hanna on the other hand, is a huge fan. During the show, standing within the sea of die hard fans, the energy and excitement was unavoidable. At one point, someone in the front row started blowing bubbles at the band, dedication. While Hippo Campus’ set was mostly off their new album, Bambi, which I’m a fan of, it seemed as if they played it safe with how they presented it to their audience. Much of the set embodied their classic bubbly, light hearted vibe persona that they’ve been popular for. Their new album resembled somewhat of a change of pace with more grit and synth/electronic usage - their performance of songs on Bambi seemed to come up short of the experimental studio recordings.

That being said, Hippo Campus’ second night in Seattle was a total success. Performances such as “Suicide Saturday” and “South” carried the set along and made it worth the while.