Hippo Campus Brings 'Flood' to The Anthem

By Dhruvak Mirani

To fans, Hippo Campus' fourth studio album, 'Flood,' marks a subtle departure from their previous work. On January 31st, Washington, D.C., hosted the third stop on the winter 2025 leg of the 'Flood Tour.'

At The Anthem, concertgoer Kathryn Baker — whom friends consider the definitive expert on all things Hippo Campus — was attending her seventh live performance of the band.

Baker told me that the album feels 'lower key' than the band's older music. 'A little sadder, just a little, but I still like it,' she said.

Hippo Campus last performed in Washington at The Atlantis in September, shortly after 'Flood's' release. Several fans mentioned previously seeing the group at the 2022 All Things Go festival in Columbia, Md.

'I think that definitely connected them to a lot more D.C.-area people who like that kind of music,' said Caroline Thorne, a graduate student at the University of Maryland, pursuing a Master of Public Policy. 'It was a very popular set.'

Despite the band's growing popularity, the crowd's concert etiquette remained impressive. Fans were respectful — though certainly energetic — and predominantly younger, as Petey, the opening act, observed.

Hippo Campus opened with 'Madman,' a choice that invited the audience into the 'Flood' era. The track blends the sunny rhythms common in earlier works, such as their 2017 album 'Landmark,' with the introspective lyrics that define 'Flood.'

The audience fully relaxed during 'Ride or Die,' the sixth track in their 23-song setlist. During this performance, The Anthem's blue stage lights transformed Luppen's pink button-down shirt into a cotton-candy glow that perfectly complemented the song.

Throughout the concert, each band member showcased their essential technical talents. 'Tooth Fairy' highlighted Luppen's distinctive vocals, as he navigated complex melodic passages flawlessly. 'Bang Bang' showcased Nathan Stocker's skillful guitar work, while 'Yippie Ki Yay,' an encore track, drew its energy from Whistler Allen's dynamic drumming.

During 'Prayer Man,' bassist Zach Sutton and keyboardist Samuel Calvo performed in perfect synchronization, swaying as if connected by an invisible thread. The song demonstrated the band's ability to embrace vulnerability while maintaining their instrumental excellence.

DeCarlo Jackson's trumpet masterfully concluded 'South.' Before the show, Andrew Thompson, a senior mechanical engineering major at UMD, said he was hoping to hear this particular song. The audience's enthusiasm was evident as they recognized it, spontaneously clapping to the beat. The next day, Thompson told me that hearing the song live was 'definitely the highlight of the concert.'

Several moments stood out that evening. 'Corduroy' resonated with nostalgia, enhanced by Stocker's harmonica. Hippo Campus displayed their emotional range in 'Everything at Once,' taking the audience through a spectrum of feelings within a single song. The band also introduced an unreleased track titled 'Easy.'

The live rendition of fan favorite 'baseball' delivered its signature energy. Their performance of 'Buttercup' featured subtle auto-tuning at its beginning and end, adding an innovative touch to the studio version. Its refrain, 'I'll be fine on my own, she said / I don't need you inside my head,' remained just as memorable in this interpretation.

'warm glow' emerged as a reassurance that light follows darkness. The crowd's emotional response to the line, 'people, we'll be alright,' suggested it was exactly what Washington needed after a long January.

'Being in a band is such a thing that's lost nowadays,' observed Leighton Weber at The Anthem — but he sees Hippo Campus as defying that trend.

'They've been together for so long, they've been making all these records together, and it's really inspirational,' said Weber