In between the two snow storms this week, a beautiful theatre with an excited crowd and some indie rock was the perfect way to warm up the soul. Trekking through the unusual storm to the Neptune Theatre was worth it to see Hippo Campus on their Bambi tour, promoting their new album that came out last September.

The concert started with the opening act Now Now—a Minneapolis-based indie rock band—who came on stage to a sold-out crowd of mostly college- age students looking to get away from midterms with a fun musical adventure. The group was faced with the age-old challenge faced by opening acts everywhere, winning over the sea of people who are waiting for the main act most came to see. They eventually were able to win the crowd over, as the number of head nods and foot taps increased.

Then the headlining act came on stage to a crowd that had patiently waited through intermission. They started the show off with the titular song off of their new album, “Bambi,” which instantly had the audience dancing. From there, they played songs from both their debut album, “Landmark” and their newer songs, effortlessly mising together classics off of their older album and the new songs for the ambum they were trying to promote. Lead singer Jake Luppin energized the concert-goers while strutting about on the stage, captivating the audience.

The crowd really came alive when Hippo Campus played “South,” a favorite among fans for its meaningful message and rhythmic, hypnotic chorus. The band continued to play the song and as the second chorus started to a call and response began as the audience sang along. Calls for different songs followed the climactic performance as the crowd hummed with energy.

The mix of songs with a heavy rock influence and electronic and melodic sound created a smooth arrangement of sounds as the concert sped towards its conclusion. The band ended on “Violet,” a song powered both by its strong guitar riffs and its emotional and reflective verses, before walking off stage.

The audience was quick to call for an encore, as the chant for “one more song” swept through the crowd. After waiting long enough to tease the audience, the band came back to play “Buttercup,” one of their most popular songs. As the whole crowd exploded with excitement over their return, they started to sing along to the song, and halfway through joined in on keeping the beat with claps initiated by guitarist Nathan Stocker.

After this final song, the band exited the stage and everyone left the theater onto the snowy streets. The overall experience of the concert was truly wonderful as the songs echoed into the ringing ears of everyone around. This concert was just the first of two nights at The Neptune Theatre.

The concert was held in the historic Neptune theatre, which converted into space for performing and musical arts in 2010. Seattle University students who attended the concert especially enjoyed the venue as a part of the Seattle concert-going experience and the bands aesthetic.

“In my opinion, this venue was beautiful because it was in an old historic theatre and they still had the original chandelier on the ceiling but they removed all the seats to make standing room so it had an alternative feel that went with the style of music that was performed,” Kennedi Finnes said, a first-year pre-major.

Katie, a student at Pacific Lutheran University, had seen the band’s concert in Portland on Feb 4.

“Hippos Campus’ performance in Seattle was an energetic explosion of emotion and passion, surpassing that of their Portland show two days ago. The abundant energy shared between the band and the crowd created a lively environment and made it what I consider the best performance I have seen so far,” Katie said..

The band will continue on their world tour as they head to their next show in Manchester, England this week, as they continue to spread their Indie rock music around the globe.

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