by Natasa Kvesic |
I was not prepared for Hoodie’s show. You know, I honestly thought I was — but, sadly, no.
Let’s reflect.
Three hours before the show: I had prepared my outfit, run through an endless list of dance moves appropriate for a rap concert (yes, I organize my dance moves per genre) and getting hyped by listening to the openers for the show, Blackbear and Kyle.
As I walked up to the Roseland Theater, I noticed the first sign of my unpreparedness: I was not equipped with a crop top and and braided pigtails. I was ashamed, to say the least.
The next sign came soon after: I had arrived embarrassingly late to the party. The first people in line had come at 6 a.m. that morning. Any doubts I had about Hoodie Allen’s popularity were crushed then and there.
As my friends and I entered the venue, I was itching to get dancing. I’d heard that Hoodie Allen’s concerts were one big party and he would keep you moving for the whole night. And he really did.
The first artist on stage was Blackbear, a bonafide smooth operator, his voice filled all the empty little pockets in my heart with love. Not even a technical difficulty with his guitar could stop all the women in the room from falling over with complete infatuation.
With a light start to the night, it only made sense to turn up the tunes a little bit. By a little bit, I mean a lot.
Kyle came out on stage and started his set off with a lightsaber battle. I am not kidding when I say that I cried. As a Star Wars nerd and a collector of replica lightsabers, I was emotionally unprepared for that entrance.
Backed up by part of his Super Duper Crew, Kyle got the crowd dancing like it was a rave. From taking dance breaks on stage during his performance of “Don’t Wanna Fall In Love,” to throwing a surfboard on the crowd and quite literally crowd surfing, we were unable to take our eyes off of him.
Then came the main act of the night: Hoodie Allen.
To say that the crowd was stoked would be an understatement. As we all started chanting “Hoodie, Hoodie, Hoodie” in unison, you could feel the ground shake beneath you with the happiness of a sold out venue full of young-hearted souls filled to the brim with nothing but love.
Opening with the first track from his new album “Happy Camper,” Hoodie set the tone for the rest of the night, which was strictly an atmosphere of reckless and crazy fun.
Not only did Hoodie interact with the crowd throughout the night, it honestly looked like he was the one having more fun than anybody else. The energy that he was giving off was absorbed by the masses and thrown around like the little ball in a pinball machine.
With it being the first stop of his “Happy Camper” tour this spring, there was a little extra packed within the four hour show. Toward the end of Hoodie’s set, DJ Fresh Direct — who was on stage the whole time mixing various beats — took the stage and carried the crowd into a full-on dance party complete with heart shaped confetti and two breakdance circles. It was epic, to say the least.
Now as you can see, I was unprepared. I usually know what to expect when coming to a show: a little dancing and maybe some off-key singing/yelling.
But Blackbear, Kyle, DJ Fresh Direct and Hoodie blew me away. I was unprepared for my pants to be drenched in sweat, my Vans to be tearing away at my skin and to be involved in full-on mosh pits and actually enjoy being thrown around.
At midnight, I left the Roseland a very happy camper.
Natasa Kvesic is a reporter for The Beacon. She can be reached at kvesic19@up.edu and on Twitter @NatasaKve
