Hippo Campus warm up chilly evening at Bayfront Park
by Mark Nicklawske and Keely Zynda
June 26, 2023
A hard rain passed through Bayfront Festival Park and cleared less than an hour before a three-band, indie rock showcase was scheduled to start in Duluth. A setting sun pushed through the clouds and a heavy fog settled below the nearby hilltops.
The chilly waterfront setting seemed to bring out the best in headliner Hippo Campus as the six-piece band roared through a 90-minute set filled with crowd pleasers and horn-fueled highlights. The concert capped a 10-city tour that saw the band play the Bonnaroo Music Festival in Manchester, Tenn., and the Central Park SummerStage in New York City.
While the spring tour hit some big-time stages, frontman Jake Luppen made sure everyone knew the band felt good performing on home turf with stateside comrades.
“It’s a special day man,” said Luppen, halfway through the set. “This bill is all f—-ing Minnesota bands!”
Hippo Campus launched their performance minutes after a towering cruise ship steamed through the harbor behind the festival grounds. Opening song “South” was stopped briefly by an audience health emergency but a restart took off with a hopped-up energy that carried deep into the concert. “Way It Goes,” one of the band’s biggest hits, followed with a stunning DeCarlo Jackson trumpet solo – and it wouldn’t be his last as he highlighted multiple songs with unique, soulful horn work from the back of the stage.
“Yippie Ki Yay,” from the new five-track Wasteland EP, saw Luppen set his guitar aside and gallop around his bandmates barking out the words – clearly excited about the new material. “Moonshine,” the only other new song for the night, came deeper in the set and saw the whole band sing out the final chorus.
Luppen played with a voice box at his side on the song “Sex Tape,” which had hands in the air throughout. The sing-a-long “Bambi” followed with a groovy, synthy, laid-back vibe.
Hippo Campus performed all original work from its 10-year recording career. The band has built a deep and varied catalog over the years and the crowd of approximately 3,500 – mostly 20 and 30-year-olds – clearly appreciated everything. “Sorry, it’s so cold,” shouted one audience member halfway through the show.
“Ride or Die,” a single from the 2022 full-length LP3, featured a shimmering solo from guitarist Nathan Stocker. Stocker, who hugs his big hollow body guitar like a life preserver, isn’t a flashy player but he consistently delivers the perfect tone, bridging a forward-looking indie band sound with Jackson’s majestic, almost classical horn work.
In a touching moment, the group dedicated “Warm Glow” to Low drummer Mimi Parker, who succumbed to cancer in 2022, and her husband and bandmate Alan Sparhawk. Parker and Sparhawk based Low out of Duluth for decades and Sparhawk produced the Hippo Campus release Bashful Creatures in 2014. Luppen took his voice up an octave and worked the slow, beautiful song like he was missing someone: “Peace sign, getting by, we’ll be alright,” he sang.
The clap-a-long “Suicide Saturday” and a crowd favorite “Boys” closed the main set. A two-song encore featured the raucous “Buttercup” followed by another rocker “Violet.”
“We have so much love for our home state,” Stocker told the audience. “We’re really grateful you’re all here tonight.”
Congo-born, Minneapolis-based singer, songwriter and drummer Bobby Kabeya, who performs as Miloe, served as the second act on the bill. Backed by a three-piece band and two back-up singers, Miloe clearly had fun during the 30-minute set.
“We’ve got fog. We’ve got hills. We’ve got sun. Make some noise,” he shouted from behind his drum kit.
The group raced through eight songs ending with sweet and mellow “Winona” and fun call-and-response piece called “floating,” from the 2022 release gaps.
Openers WHY NOT set a high energy tone. The Twin Cities trio featuring Henry Breen on vocals and bass, drummer Joshua MacGregor, and guitarist Isaac Dell performed a 30-minute set of loud rockers and one ballad: “You’re My Kind.” The group was well received by the early arriving audience.
Breen seemed relieved that both the crowd and the weather was on his side.
“Yeah, it was raining five minutes ago and I thought we were all going to be in misery,” he said between songs. “But we’re going to be alright.”
Setlist
South
Way It Goes
Baseball
Yippie Ki Yay
No Poms
Sex Tape
Bambi
Ride or Die
Ashtray
Bang Bang
Moonshine
Warm Glow
Chapstick
Bad Dream Baby
Where to Now?
Suicide Saturday
Boys
Encore
Buttercup
Violet
