Lolla Aftershow, Hippo Campus At Metro Chicago Review

Aug 08, 2024 admin_bitlc Features, Music News, Reviews 0

By Christopher David

“Just wanna let you guys know, we’re pulling stuff straight from the trashcan tonight,” Hippo Campus guitarist/vocalist Jake Luppen grinned to a sold-out Metro that was absolutely on fire for the Minnesotan quintet. And with that, the band embarked on the holy grail of super-fans— the deep cut setlist—while closing the book on Lollapalooza 2024.

Touching on little played gems from their entire career as well as a number of newer tracks, Hippo Campus’s set was both a treat for the diehards and a fascinating cross-section of their styles for the uninitiated. The band’s signature upbeat melodies and guitar figures were nicely offset by DeCarlo Jackson’s trumpet, adding to the bright arrangements of tunes like “Opportunistic” and “Western Kids.”

“Seventy more to go,” Luppen joked at one point, “and I got my iPad of lyrics right here.” For the majority of attendees, the night unfolded like a series of hit singles as opposed to rarely played cuts, though new single “Paranoid” evoked the best of contemporary indie rock, calling to mind the melancholy tone of bands like Real Estate or Beach Fossils with plenty of danceable bounce, while “Chapstick” at times called to mind the driving downbeat of The National, though Luppen and Co. manage to blend a wide variety of influences into a cohesive sound, which isn’t always easy. “Fuck all the celebrities you’re analyzing over,” Luppen sang as the band closed with the frenetic beat of “Deepfake,” offering some true indie-rock perspective to finish up the weekend.