By Molly McCoy
GroupLove brought their “Rock and Roll You Won’t Save Me” tour to the Depot in Salt Lake City on Monday, March 11th. Monday evening held nothing but excitement for GroupLove fans as the band had finally made its long awaited return to the state of Utah. With a sold out show fans waited in line patiently for the doors to open hoping to get as close as possible to the barricade so they could be fully immersed in what was looking to be a memorable evening.
Opening for them was Bully, it was just singer Alicia Bognanno alone on stage for her set but what she lacked in band members she made up for in skill. She had full control over the crowd during the set, all eyes were locked in on her as fans would sway with each song. Alicia’s vocals sound similar to Phoebe Bridgers, but have their own depth and uniqueness at the same time. She started out on the guitar and then moved on to the piano after a few songs. My favorite song of the night was “Lose You” . She sang it with so much emotion it was hard for it not to stand out. I hope she comes back to tour in Utah again soon, if this was the performance she delivered as an opener I can’t imagine how good a full set would be.
Following a brief intermission between Bully’s set and the start of GroupLove, the venue continued to fill up until it was packed to the brim with fans. The lights went down as the familiar notes of The Beatles “Come Together” played through the speakers. Fans cheered loudly as the song played, hanging on to every moment of anticipation before the group came on stage. Finally the time arrived and GroupLove appeared, they opened with “I’m With You” using an extended intro to really build up and encourage the crowd to maximum energy. GroupLove has always been a bucket list artist of mine to see and from the moment they were on stage I was hooked. I have never seen a band bring that much energy to a show from start to finish.
With most shows, photographers have a 3 song rule, you can have your camera out for the first three songs in the photo pit. After the first 3 you usually would have to put it away. However, with this show I was told that I could shoot throughout the venue during the show. This was a perk I didn’t realize would be so nice until I watched their performance, in fact I had to stop myself a few times from taking too many photos because there was so much going on. As each song passed the energy would build and the crowd would go crazy, as if every song that was played was their absolute favorite song.
They kind of broke their set into a few different sections, the second section was a little slower and included songs like “Cruel and Beautiful” and “Tell Me a Story”. Lead singer Hannah Hooper introduced the band to the crowd and said that while the band is GroupLove, it’s really the audience that comes to the shows, and then goes out to spread the love they felt at the show to those around them that are “GroupLove”. The night moved forward and the party continued strong, the crowd ate up every interaction between the bandmates on stage, it’s obvious that they not only enjoy performing together but are able to build off of each other to ensure a maximum performance from each member.
Before going into one of their most popular songs “Tongue Tied” Hannah took a moment to take a quick survey of the crowd to see who in the audience considered themselves an artist of any kind. A few people raised their hands before she broadened the question to see who liked to create, whether it’s art, food, etc. She then told the crowd that it’s important we all create, that only you can create your own art and it’s through creation that we are able to grow and understand each other better. The crowd cheered loudly to that for quite a while before the band broke into their song which resulted in a massive singalong. After tongue tied they played “Chances’ ‘ their recently released song as of this February.
The night ended with a 4 song encore, I was truly shocked the entire night, after each song I kept thinking that it couldn’t get better and song after song I was proven wrong. As far as energy goes you couldn’t ask for a more positive and happy environment, everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves to the fullest extent and the positivity that the band brought with them spread like wildfire.
The tour continues on through the rest of the month throughout the country with about 10 shows left. Don’t skip this opportunity to see them as headliners as their shows shouldn’t be missed. With music just released and hopefully more on the way it will be exciting to see what the future holds for GroupLove.
