Last year I was obsessed with Grouplove. I made a huge Rasterbated mural of them for my old bedroom wall, I used their iconic oversized t-shirt as my FBPP and even attempted to learn their songs on guitar. So after hearing they were announced to come back to London I swear I must have been the first person online purchasing my ticket.
Tuesday nights venue was The Garage in Highbury and Islington which is probably the size of a NZ primary school hall. It was another solo mission so I wasn’t too worried about looking like a fool for getting too crazy in front of a bunch of strangers, However making a fool of myself in front of the band is something I believe is worth worrying about. I was waiting by the barrier for some over enthusiastic warm up band to finish (I swear they were covering the Wiggles at one point) when I spotted three members of Grouplove standing next to me. I couldn’t help myself, I think my exact words were “Oh my god!! I can’t believe it’s you!! I’m such a massive fan.” It gets even worse, I got my phone out asked for a picture and made someone take it three times before realizing the flash wasn’t on. I don’t think they were too impressed.
Christian and Hannah from Grouplove (without flash on!!)
So remaining at the front in full view of the band Grouplove arrived on stage. I can’t say there was one song that I didn’t enjoy. Grouplove’s feel good music and happy faces show they love what they do and make it easy to be sucked into the party.
My favorite track of the night was ‘Naked Kids’ which I first heard on Triple J last year, it’s the kind of song that makes you wish it was summer (and you were in California in the sixties). The Encore was of course the latest Ipod commercial track ‘Tongue Tied’ followed by another favorite ‘Colors.’
There are so many pretentious angry bands these days who offer no stage banter, what I like about Grouplove is their obvious passion for their music and love for one another
“And I told my band mates, they are my soul mates,”
Grouplove @ The Garage
Grouplove @ The Garage
