Former MTV Darlings Hellogoodbye do indie-pop the right way
You probably recognize Hellogoodbye, the power-pop quintet hailing from California, from their hit song "Here (In Your Arms). Scratch that, you definitely recognize them from that song. If you're like me, you know them from their appearance on MTV's The Real World: Season 16 (Austin), where the roommates documented the band's experience at the SxSW Music Festival. The band presented itself as a goofy, have a good time band that wrote catchy music... and, well, goofed around a lot. MTV was definitely pushing this band on the roommates, realizing the marketability of the band to their audience.
Sevens years after the release of their debut EP, the band hit up Highline Ballroom in New York, bringing with it a more matured sound centered around the same good time feel with a more refined pop sound that ditches the gimmicks and focuses on the song writing more. Hellogoodbye's first album, "Zombies! Aliens! Vampires! Dinosaurs!", which came out in 2006, is as ridiculous as the name suggests, offering little serious substance. Their big hit, while catchy, has always been a sore spot for me, as I could never see past the cringe-worthy auto-tune and the lyrics. With their second album, the band ditched the auto-tune, at times overbearing synthesizer and the downright silly lyrics that made it impossible to take the band seriously.
Hellogoodbye also endured a huge lawsuit with Drive Thru Records that ended in the two parting ways and the new album, which the band worked tirelessly on, enduring long delays. The result of the band's toil was "Would it Kill You?", an album that was above all honest and true, conjuring up thoughts of well respected indie pop bands like Steel Train and fun. The album topped a lot of end-of-the-year lists, which surprised even the people who loved the album. That was a testament to the respect the band earned with their hard work on the album.
The band brought along three other pop acts to share the stage on the tour. First up, a band from Minnesota called "Now Now" (formerly known as "Now Now Every Children"). Led by two female singers, Cacie Dalager and Jess Abbott, the band definitely brought a "Tegan and Sara" vibe with them, which included the heartfelt pop music combined with the funny on-stage banter and emotional stage presence, which was slightly hindered by the band all having the flu. Next up was "You, Me, & Everyone We Know". For an opening act, the band definitely has a growing reputation and brought with it a few die hard fans.The 6 piece rock band hailing from Washington D.C. is led by Ben Liebsch, who along with his abundant stage energy was constantly trying to get the fans involved in the band's set. The final opener was Gold Motel, a fairly new band led by lead singer of The Hush Sound, Greta Morgan. Backed by a wooden block that had their name written in Gold Light Bulbs, the band continued the trend of danceable pop rock backed by Greta's confident vocals and piano playing.
After the openers warmed up the crowd, Hellogoodbye took the stage to a roaring ovation. There is something about this band that is automatically likable, and it takes no time at all to realize that. The band seems loose and care-free on stage, jumping right into the first track on their new album, "Finding Something to Do". That was the trend all night, as the band's 13 song set consisted of 9 songs from the new album, 2 from "Z!A!V!D!" and 2 from their EP. The band's on-stage banter was light-hearted, dorky and above all funny, led by lead singer Forrest Kline's amusing takes on things like the lights not working properly to the guitarist's looks distracting him on stage. The band had some good back-and-forth jokes going with "YM&EWK" as well as the show went on.
Without the auto-tune, Forrest's voice shined all night, save for a few moments where his voice was noticeably pitchy. suffered through pitch problems. But in the end, the music won out. The fans definitely responded well to the older songs, especially crowd favorite "Dear Jamie... Sincerely, Me", which had a large portion of the audience singing along. After some banter about the last song, the band left the stage, only to return to a more stripped down version of their beautiful song "The Thought That Gives Me the Creeps". Unsurprisingly, the band ended the set with "Here (In Your Arms)" which got the entire audience off their feet and jumping and singing. Ben from YM&EWK joined the band on stage to join in on the fun, and a fun night it was indeed. There was a definite calmness in the air as the fans walked out of Highline. With their new musical style, the young Hellogoodbye has set itself up for much future success.
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