HIPPO CAMPUS / GULLY BOYS / DNM / RAFFAELLA / IVERS for HIPPO CAMPUS PRESENTS BLOSSOM - FINE LINE - 10/19/2021
Photos, Written by: Eric Martin, Writer/Assistant Editor @eamartin95
Edited by: Andrew Perrizo, Owner/Editor @PlaylistTC
Our writer, Eric Martin, attended this week’s sold-out Blossom show at the Fine Line, a community arts initiative put together by Hippo Campus. Performances included Gully Boys, DNM, Raffaella, Ivers, as well as a surprise performance by Hippo Campus. Below are their thoughts and pictures from the night.
Blossom was a night, seemingly the first of many, put together by Hippo Campus to benefit the local arts scene. Included in the night were performances by several of the hottest acts in town in order to elevate the profile of some of the area’s best musicians while also raising money for Juxtaposition Arts and Crown Shepherd.
Ivers, fresh off their debut EP Closet Wine, began the event with their slick and vibrant bedroom-pop-styled indie rock. Wide-eyed lyrics popped across the stage from singer Megan Fritz as the rest of the band buoyed the lax delivery into a higher intensity. While closing with a new track, "Best Behavior," Ivers cracked out the most ethereal riffs of their fresh career, letting loose a hardness that had previously escaped tangibility throughout their set.
The second act was Raffaella, a smartly worded, slyly phrasing singer backed by a 3 piece band consisting of members of some the nights later entertainment. What scans as pop on record comes across more like the smolderingly confessional rock of someone like Julia Jacklin on stage. Using the microphone cord and her hair as props, she swung across the stage with command, pulling along the eyes and ears of the entire crowd.
DNM covered the stage like jeans on a leg. All four members exuded genuine happiness and reveled in the atmosphere the whole set, vibrating on top of each other like a chemistry class gif of heated gas molecules. Their rock is immensely entertaining and visibly scalable - they could fill any space they find themselves in with energy. Their upcoming show at the Palace Theater opening for Yam Haus will test this theory, though I have no doubt it'll hold up.
Is it the way it almost always goes? If you're clued in to the goings ons of the Twin Cities' rock scene, you likely heard about the frustratingly shitty tale of Dad, Gully Boys' van. After a rally they played for Minneapolis mayoral candidate Sheila Nezhad last Saturday at Powderhorn Park, Dad was stolen, full of the group's instruments. Just 3 days before their Blossom set at the Fine Line and a week before departure for a tour in support of their exceptional new EP Favorite Son, the band took to social media to find their beloved equipment and vehicle. Dad was found totaled the day of the set, and none of the equipment has turned up.
Well, the Boys' sure had a lot going on these past few days, a lot to be righteously pissed about. Tuesday's set at the Fine Line hopefully provided catharsis for them, as it was clear it worked as such for the crowd. Over a half-hour of their always pummelling blast of rock, the band made everyone in the building feel a hell of a lot better about whatever's been keeping us down lately. Drummer Nadirah McGill remarked that this was the first time all week they'd felt somewhat normal. And ws normal for the Gully Boys, this shit slayed.
A last-minute surprise announcement of a Hippo Campus set may have been at least a little anticipated, but nonetheless, it served as a tremendous end to a beautiful night. This wickedly enjoyable set was for the real heads, skipping out on their hits in favor of playing the entirety of their Good Dog, Bad Dream EP from earlier this year. Earlier in the day, the band announced their LP3, out next February, as well as set highlight “Boys,” which already had a solid chunk of the crowd hitting all of the right words in key places. It’s been probably 5 or so years since I last saw these indie pop rockers, and although their sound has always flittered, the quality of their performance has not wavered. It was a wonderful experience to see a band that has outgrown the room but not the community. As for what comes next for Blossom, we shall see, but I know I will certainly be expecting fantastic things.
