The Big Mess Tour made a stop at The Complex on Monday night, where fans huddled together to see Grouplove.
Grouplove took the stage with an explosive enthusiasm. They kicked things off with the song “I’m With You;” and it wasn’t long before the crowd had thrown their hands up, jumping around in a show of playing off of the band’s energy. With a set consisting mostly of songs from their latest album Big Mess, peppered throughout with songs from earlier albums, this energy was well placed.
The lead singers thrashed around on stage like the music was running through their veins with the strobe lights creating a cool choppy effect. The audience was pleasantly surprised when the lights turned off and on to the beat of the music.
Grouplove made their show a communal and intimate experience. The crowd clapped and swayed with their hands in the air; at one point everyone wrapped an arm around the person to their left and right as they sang along.
The group flaunted their punk rock influences when they played a cover of the Beastie Boys’ song “Sabotage.”
The set ended with the new single “Welcome To Your Life,” but the audience chanted for an encore, successfully getting Zucconi to return alone on stage to sing “Enlighten Me.” The rest of the band joined him to play “Hippy Hill” by popular demand from people in the crowd. Hooper grew up in San Francisco and said she hung out at Hippy Hill where a lot of weed-smoking hippies and creative types got together.
They told the crowd that Salt Lake City is one of the most underrated cities in the nation; it’s always one of the best shows on tour and this one was no exception. They had everyone let out a loud scream at the count of three before ending the night with “Colours” and taking a bow.