Flood Intimate Release Show at The Independent in San Francisco, CA — September 17, 2024

Hippo Campus is on their way to having the biggest breakout year with their newly released fourth studio album, Flood. The Minnesota indie rock band announced select shows ahead of the album release, playing it live in full to select cities.

Luckily for San Francisco fans, the band dropped by to a sold out show at The Independent, an intimate venue in the heart of the city – so intimate that fans are able to get right up against the stage to be up close and personal. The show occurred during release week, so up until that point only a few singles had been released to the public giving fans a rare opportunity to hear the new album early.

Flood live was incredible, showing the band’s growth over the years. The sentiments on Flood are raw and unguarded, showcasing the band’s ability to transmit emotions into songs that are inescapable. They wiped the slate clean, starting over with no expectation on what this record needed to be. As the leading single “Everything At Once” quite literally says, this record is built like what it is to feel everything at once. This is a band that learned to grow by learning to let go. This new era welcomed a new and evolved shift in sound tapping into vulnerability and urgency, leaving listeners with 13 tracks laced with absorbing hooks. Fans responded well to each song as it finished, some even making note of lyrics to come back to once the album was officially out in the world. After the conclusion of Flood, Hippo Campus treated fans to old favorites in the second half of their set spanning across their discography with songs including “South,” “Yippie Ki Yay,” “warm glow,” “Ease Up Kid,” and “Bad Dream Baby.” Ending the set with different songs from each of their different eras was a great way to pay homage and close the chapter on the past as they geared up for Flood’s release. The band returns on tour in support of this album with a winter and spring run in 2025. To see if they’re stopping by a city near you, visit their website here!

Words & Photos: Sabrina Poei