Grouplove - Relentless Garage, London - 28th February 2012 (Live Review)
Monday, 05 March 2012
Written by Ryan Crittenden
The sold-out venue was beginning to fill as the dark undertones of Kanye West’s 'Monster' filled the room. The nature of their walk on track was a stark contrast to opening number ‘Don't Say Oh Well.’ The track, taken from their self-title EP, oozed happiness like a kid in a sweet shop and got the already hot venue bouncing. Not to lose momentum the 5-piece followed up with ‘Lovely Cup’ complete with harmonious backing vocals from Hannah Hooper. The wails of joy from the entire crowd during the chorus’ as they attempted to keep up with the vocal performance of energetic frontman Christian Zucconi, just emphasised the popularity of the band. The crowd participation carried on as the surprisingly in time clapping opened third song of the night ‘Itchin' On A Photograph.’ The opening track from their debut album got a great reception as the joyous tones of Grouplove had now engulfed everyone in attendance, with Zucconi and Hooper especially putting in everything they had.
After the euphoric and frenetic start, the band take a moment to lap up the applause and address the audience. Cowboy hat sporting bass player Sean Gadd thanked everyone for coming along, telling them that this was a special show as it was a homecoming show for the only Brit in the band. He had a lot of family and friends in attendance and told the audience that he knows the London crowd will do him proud before playing ‘Love Will Save Your Soul.’ Hannah Hooper taking lead vocals for this with the ever-reliable band mates pitching in with their backing vocals to give the song a great edge. The pace of the gig then took a slower turn through ‘Betty's Bomb Shell’ and ‘Gold Coast.’ The latter track building up brilliantly allowing Zucconi to really showcase his excellent vocal range. His voice has a real roar feel to it and with his long dyed blue hair and baggy jeans, he looks a little like a hippy grunger singing with a real purpose. Zucconi had asked the crowd to help him out with the end of the song and everyone duly obliged, filling the now sweltering room with harmonious howls.
‘Naked Kids’ is another in your face happy number which reminds you of a summer holiday, the rousing rendition is unsurprisingly greeted by a mass singalong. ‘Spun’ allows guitarist Andrew Wessen to pick up his ukulele and take on lead vocals in one of the songs of the night. With Wessen’s giving an awesome vocal performance it allows Zucconi to let loose with his guitar and produce a brilliant guitar solo. The versatility of the band continues as Brit Sean Gadd goes around introducing the band one by one before taking on lead vocals with ‘Chloe.’ This number has a little bit of rockabilly to it whilst keeping the ethos of Grouplove. By this point in the night the room is dripping with sweat and with more great energy from the band, they look visibly drenched. Not to be deterred the quintet power through and sure enough as they promised in the interview there was howling.
The opening to ‘Close Your Eyes And Count To Ten’ is pretty much lead singer Zucconi howling furiously at the crowd and after a few exchanges the song gets going. This turns out to be the penultimate song and before too long drummer, Ryan Rabin is moving his bass drum into the centre of the stage for closing number ‘Slow.’ With the band in complete darkness, they are only lit by Rabin’s light up drumsticks as he energetically beats on his drums.
to provide a mini light show. The solo vocals from Hannah Hooper sound very impressive and it is a great way to end before the whole band exit the stage and leave Rabin to provide yet another illuminating drumstick performance.
As the band quickly return to the stage, it was time to please any unlikely fair-weather fans that were in attendance. ‘Tongue Tied’ is a track that has been heard by millions, they might not know it is Grouplove but after featuring on a recent iPod Touch commercial it was an obvious choice of song to open the encore. The crowd could not have cared less what advert it was on as all they wanted to do was go completely crazy! The track got a tremendous reception and so it should; it is a brilliant track that incorporates everything that is good about Grouplove. Christian Zucconi promised the crowd a treat next and delivered with a mini cover of the late great Whitney Houston’s 'I Wanna Dance With Somebody.' Although they only sung the chorus a few times it still counts as a cover, the crowd seemed to enjoy it anyway! There was only one song which was going to finish the show, and that was going to come in the form of ‘Colours.’ The band had given everything but still put their hearts and souls into performing a stunningly powerful rendition of their best song. The crowd had now gone into overdrive and those at the front were a frenzied sweaty mess by the time Hannah Hooper smashed her tambourine all over the stage.
A fantastic gig and I am sure they will agree it was a great way to end their European tour. Top people, top show and I for one cannot wait for them to come back to the UK after their stint in America.
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‘Naked Kids’ is another in your face happy number which reminds you of a summer holiday, the rousing rendition is unsurprisingly greeted by a mass singalong. ‘Spun’ allows guitarist Andrew Wessen to pick up his ukulele and take on lead vocals in one of the songs of the night. With Wessen’s giving an awesome vocal performance it allows Zucconi to let loose with his guitar and produce a brilliant guitar solo. The versatility of the band continues as Brit Sean Gadd goes around introducing the band one by one before taking on lead vocals with ‘Chloe.’ This number has a little bit of rockabilly to it whilst keeping the ethos of Grouplove. By this point in the night the room is dripping with sweat and with more great energy from the band, they look visibly drenched. Not to be deterred the quintet power through and sure enough as they promised in the interview there was howling.
