Ultraviolet Hippopotamus 10.7.11

Words & Photos By Shea Haddad (facebook.com/EyesMindPhotography)

The Mitten’s own UV Hippo kicked off their fall tour with a two-night run in the front room at The Intersection in Grand Rapids, Michigan. It had been quite a few months since I had been to a Hippo show, and being that it was only the third show I’d seen since guitarist Sam Guidry left the band, I was interested to see them play.

Just like any other Michigan Hippo show, the whole Grand Rapids crew, along with some Fort Wayne fans, got together to have a good time. The Section was full of friends and family catching up, partying, and doing some good ole’ fashioned crushing. Once the music started, the front room turned into a full-blown dance party.

The first set consisted of mostly songs off of their newest album, Square Pegs Round Holes. The jams were clean, on point, and explosive. Everybody seemed to be enjoying themselves, especially the band members! One thing that I’ve always appreciated about Hippo shows is how pumped the band is to be playing for a crowd. Nothing beats bassist Brian Samuels’ smiling face and playful demeanor during a great song. Hippo’s happiness came into full effect during the closing of the first set when they covered Pink Floyd’s “Fearless” and everybody in the crowd sang along.

The second set was equally exciting, including some all-time favorite tunes such as “North Coast”. What’s great about this band is that the moment you think a jam is about to slow down, they pick it right back up, and the crowd keeps on dancing. This show was definitely a crowd pleaser as everybody walked out with a smile on their face, ready to continue on to the after party. I’m sure I can speak for the rest of the Michigan crowd when I say that I look forward to their next local show, which is at Bell’s Brewery in Kalamazoo on the 27th of this month. Hippo sings it themselves, theirs is the kind of music that will never let you sleep, and they will sure keep you on your dancing feet!

www.uvhippomusic.com

Shea’s Photo Gallery

Comments

Livetronica Sampler 3.22.11

Words by Greg Molitor ( ReMIND Photography ) Ozric Tentacles This British group has proven innovative throughout the years offering a space-rock meets psytrance sound that remains alive to this day. Though never having a major record label, Ozric Tentacles has produced 28 albums of diverse psychedelia throughout its career. The band met at the Stonehenge Free Festival in 1983 and truly fathered livetronica music with its use of sequencers and synthesizers. Simply put, there would be no livetronica without Ozric Tentacles. www.ozrics.com Octopus Nebula Colorado’s Octopus Nebula has certainly hit its stride as of late with its constant touring and increased festival interest. The group expands on the deep sounds of highly regarded acts such as STS9 and Shpongle but also carves a path of its own with its fresh takes on synthesizer tones and sampling in the live setting. Octopus Nebula Live at Cervantes' Masterpiece Ballroom on March 26, 2010. www.octopusnebula.com Big Gigantic Big...

Buckethead: Gimmick or Guitar God?

Words & Photos By Nicholas Stock ( phatphlogblog.blogspot.com ) At what point does the gimmick overshadow the performance? The obvious answer is Buckethead. The man is an amazing guitarist but something is not right in this world. The idea a performer who dons a KFC chicken bucket on his head for a concert has always intrigued me, and some of his side projects such as Colonel Claypool’s Bernie Bucket of Brains have been huge successes. However his performance last weekend in Fort Collins simply left me perplexed. From his robotic dancing, to his nunchuck display, to the fact the he performed with an iPod rather than a band all added to my confusion. Going into the show I was ready to be blown away, despite rumblings of disgruntled fans from the previous night’s show at The Gothic. Buckethead had had some sound issues and some missed cues in Denver but I was still trying to be positive for the show in Fort Collins. It did go off without a hitch technically but that was the least ...

The Origin of MusicMarauders

Words By J-man "What should I name this fucking thing?" I asked myself in the midst of a joint in my Upstate, NY apartment. "It's got to be something with just 'Music'in the title. Nothing more specific than that, as we'll be covering a wide variety of genres." One more drag on the joint yielded the memory of driving down Woodward Ave. in Detroit, listening to Tribe Called Quest's Midnight Marauders. "MusicMarauders! That's it... It completely encompasses what we do in the sense the we are 'maraudering' or 'pillaging' for music," I thought as I stared out of the window at about three and a half feet of fresh Upstate snow. First things first, the domain had to be registered. "Do I have ten dollars in my account?" I thought to myself from a position of just scraping by. Pulling out my shiny, rarely used debit card, I put it to the test and was able to secure MusicMarauders.com. "What's next?" I ...

MUSICMARAUDERS

Search This Blog