On Friday, March 15th, people were lining up outside Palace Theatre for a show. What show? Grouplove. There were people taking photos in front of the iconic sign beforehand, and jittery with the joy of seeing this band.
Bully
Bully was founded by multi-talented Alicia Bognanno, who’s a German native but spent her teen years in Rosemount, Minnesota. She earned a degree from Middle Tennessee State University in audio recording. After college, she landed an internship at Electric Audio studios in Chicago. This is where she started recording demos of her own material, before heading to Nashville. In Nashville in 2013, a trio was formed that performed under the band name Bully.
Years later and now solo, Alicia is still performing under the band name Bully, and landed spots opening for the Pixies and Grouplove. She showed in Minneapolis that she was multi-talented, playing both the guitar and piano while singing. It was incredibly unfortunate though, because she stated she lost her voice right before getting on stage. Your heart just broke for her, as she claimed that she was really excited for this show (and I’m presuming because it was a hometown one). She still played through it, and gave an awe inspiring performance to start off the night.
Grouplove
This band really built the anticipation. They had all of the house lights turned off before the set, and played “Come Together” by The Beatles to get the crowd hyped up and a feeling of coming together to enjoy this show. After the song, they came onto stage with a blast of lights and colors. I was in complete awe of the band, running around the stage and truly giving a performance. I infamously am in the pit during my favorite song by an artist, but I broke my own rule and looked up their setlist prior to the show and found that my favorites would be played later on.
Even those who may not know this group would have had a fantastic time during this concert. With wild personalities, rocking anthems, and a colorful celebration of life, they sure kept me entertained. I will say I have taken some of my favorite photos to date, and got to enjoy the show with my fiancé who tagged along in the crowd. This band played nonstop music, fitting in a whopping 19 songs, with 3 in the encore. At one point lead singer Hannah Hooper stated “I don’t mean to get hippy on you all, but the vibes and feelings in here are just great tonight”. Grouplove sure made it known that they are still here in the music scene, spreading love and community all over.
Check out other concerts in the Twin Cities HERE.
