It was cloudy and as I walked up to The Crocodile; I could see the line stretching around the block and down the hill. I picked up my ticket and took my place at the back of the line. 

As I stood there moving a few feet at a time, it began to rain and I regretted my decision to not bring my bag, now having to shelter my camera under my sweatshirt. Thankfully, this little bout of rain outside allowed for the striking up of a conversation between myself and the person in front of me. I got to hear a little more about the artist Ericdoa. One key aspect being that it is pronounced Eric D.O.A and not as one word. 

Listening to a good portion of his music before the show, I found myself struggling to put it into a category and brought this up with my fellow attendee and they expressed to me that he doesn’t stick to one genre but that his music is most often categorized as hyperpop. 

Hyperpop can be looked at as taking regular pop elements and exaggerating them into something new. With Ericadoa, I thought from listening to his music that it incorporated more elements of hip hop and trap blended with pop so I didn’t immediately make the connection. However, after reading an article in The Atlantic that described hyperpop as the counterculture sound of the 2020s, everything fell into place. While at Ericdoa’s show I couldn’t help but think this is the current generation’s equivalent of a 90s Grunge performance.

The energy of the room was addictive—both the energy of the crowd and the energy of the performers. Before he could even take the stage, the crowd was moving up and down and chanting “D.O.A! D.O.A!” in unison, unable to contain the pending excitement for what was to come. Then with every song change the crowd reacted as if he had walked on stage all over again. The energy never waned throughout the entirety of the performance. 

Even some parents chaperoning their kids from the side of the room were tapping their feet and bobbing their heads to the beat of the music. 

Overall, the concert left me excited to see where Ericdoa’s career will take him.