It was the week for 10 year album anniversaries in L.A. Between 3 nights of Foster the People with Torches at the Wiltern and Grouplove doing a one night only performance of Never Trust a Happy Song at the Hollywood Palladium (11/19).
This was Grouplove’s first full-length L.A. show in 3 years. Grouplove consists of founding members Christian Zucconi (Co-Lead Vocals/ Guitar), Hannah Hooper (Co-Lead Vocals), and Andrew Wesson with bassist Daniel Gleason and drummer Benjamin Homola. From that album there were four hit singles “Colours,” “Tongue Tied,” “Lovely Cup,” and “Itchin’ On a Photograph.” There was also a reunion with their original drummer and producer of Never Trust a Happy Song Ryan Rabin and original bassist Sean Gadd seven songs into the show. Grouplove’s latest album This Is This was released in March of this year.
Whenever you see Zucconi and Hooper performing together there’s also some kind of magic they bring to the stage and there is no other duo like them. As usual they had very creative matching outfits. Around the drums was a giant mouth and teeth spelling out Grouplove on the top. The waiting music before they took the stage was the theme from Jurassic Park and their intro song was the Beatles “Come Together.”
The show began with the first song of Never Trust a Happy Song “Itchin’ on a Photograph,” followed by “Tongue Tied,” which ended in confetti. Rabin who left the group in 2017 joined in “Spun,” all the way through “Cruel and Beautiful World,” the second to last song of the album. Gadd who left in 2015 joined in for “Chloe” and remained onstage through “Cruel and Beautiful World” as well. The first part of the show ended with “Close Your Eyes and Count to Ten.”
Grouplove did a double encore following Never Trust a Happy Song. The first encore consisted of eight songs including “Deleter,” “Oxygen Swimming,” and “Shout.” The show came to a close with “Ways to Go,” and they were joined by Surfboat’s Dani Miller for “Just What You Want.” Since the release of Never Trust a Happy Song, Grouplove has released five more studio albums, and over 15 singles.
Setlist:
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Spun w/ Ryan Rabin
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Chloe w/ Rabin and Gadd
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Betty's a Bombshell w/ Rabin and Gadd
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Love Will Save Your Soul w/ Rabin and Gadd
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Cruel and Beautiful World w/ Rabin and Gadd
Encore:
Encore 2:
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Ways to Go
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Just What You Want w/ Dani Miller
