After taking a one-year hiatus to work on new music, Hoodie Allen bounced back with “The Hype,” his newest album as well as a world tour.
The Hype World Tour will be traveling through 48 cities in 9 different countries. Myles Parrish and Luke Christopher are coming along for the ride as Hoodie’s opening acts. If you have ever had the chance to see any one of these artists, you should know that these shows are going to be, as the name suggests, hype. If you have not, I highly recommend getting tickets to the show near you!
The seventh stop on The Hype World Tour was in St. Louis, MO at Delmar Hall on October 18th. I had the privilege to go as well as photograph this show, and as a fan of each of these artists, I had an amazing time. When I arrived at the venue, the line was pretty long, but it didn’t take too long to get in. In my opinion, Delmar Hall was a great choice for this show. It isn’t huge, but the size was very fitting for the number of people that showed up. The main floor only took 30 minutes to be completely filled with excited concertgoers. The atmosphere before the show even began was very lively, and you could feel the energetic vibe in the air.
The first act to perform was Myles Parrish along with his younger brother and DJ, Jake (Jakey P). Myles was previously a part of Kalin and Myles, a duo from The Bay. Sadly, the two went their separate ways, but they both have been thriving with their individual music. Myles released his first individual album earlier this year titled “Vomac,” and the songs that he played from the album got everyone in the audience moving. Even if someone didn’t have any idea who Myles was before the show, they were bopping their heads or waving their hands along with him. In his set, Myles threw it back to some older Kalin and Myles songs as well as his own arrangement of a Tori Kelly song. The two songs that brought the most energy came from his new album: “Cut A Rug” and “Tommy Bahama.” Looking into the audience, I saw so many people dancing with each other whether they knew who they were dancing with or not. Overall, Myles’ performance was so good. It was great seeing him bring The Bay back to The Lou.
Following Myles was Luke Christopher’s performance. I had never seen him in concert before this show, but he also brought it all to the stage. While I was in the pit, all I kept hearing was how cute he was. As a fan, I totally get where they were coming from. As a professional, it was comedic seeing the girls in the front row all giddy over him. Anyway, Luke also dropped an album this year titled “TMRWFRVR.” He brought a smooth voice as well as his rapper side throughout his time on the stage. It’s always interesting seeing multiple talents from artists. Luke’s performance was very vivacious. Most of his songs included those types of beat drops that gets everyone jumping and bumping along with the artist. Liveliness continued to increase in the crowd each time. I enjoyed Luke’s performance, and I’ll probably listen to more of his music after watching him perform.
Finally, the act everyone was anticipating was Hoodie Allen. Personally, as I was trying to be professional in the pit, I couldn’t help but internally scream when he came out onstage. The last time he came to St. Louis was for The Happy Camper tour last January. That show was one to remember, so I had high hopes for this one. After his band came out on stage and started playing with the lights low yet flashing, Hoodie came out performing “Sushi,” the first single he released from “The Hype.” The crowd went wild. Following “Sushi,” he performed “Act My Age” and “Fakin.” After leaving the pit, I was really able to see how amazing Hoodie’s set was. The lighting design for this show was well designed for his performance. Although I loved it, some people may not have enjoyed it due to frequent bright strobe effects throughout his entire set. After a couple more songs, “Cake Boy” was next. This song has always been a banger and a highlight of his shows. As always, he threw out two cakes into the audience, and it was amazing. The show already was so energetic, but I think this song was the one that really brought the hype to The Hype.
Following this song, Hoodie performed “Champagne and Pools” which features Blackbear and KYLE. During this song, he decided to go around to the back of the crowd and perform it there. I’ve seen artists do this before, but because the venue was more intimate than a bigger venue, it was more special. Ever since Hoodie has come back from taking a break, he has done everything to interact with his fans. This includes tweeting, calling, texting, and even flying out to hang out with three winners of a contest he put on. He stopped after the song to bring attention to another contest that he was putting on during the tour. The contest was texting a number with the chance of winning a signed t-shirt. During this break in the show, Hoodie decided to call one of the fans in the crowd to figure out who won the shirt. Following the call, the winner was able to go onstage, receive a t-shirt, have it signed, and announce the next song. Hoodie Allen is one of the most interactive artists I’ve ever seen, and it makes me so happy to be a fan of his. All of the older songs that everyone loves were performed: James Franco, Fame Is For Assholes, No Faith In Brooklyn, All About It, No Interruption. He even did an acoustic mashup of “Two Lips,” “Casanova” and “Lean On Me” which was really cool. The crowd was filled with excitement during all of these songs. They sang every word to the point where Hoodie didn’t even have to sing. At one point, he gave the mic to people in the audience and they just performed for him. It was a really awesome sight.
On his tours, Hoodie typically ends up crowd surfing on an inflatable. On this tour, he did just that during “All My Friends” which features State Champs. He was passed all the way to the back of the crowd and back up. He had the biggest smile on his face in the crowd of longtime fans. The encore was one of his most known and anticipated songs, “No Interruption.” Throughout the whole show, there was energy, energy, and more energy. Towards the middle of the song, two confetti cannons went off, and I don’t think I’ve ever seen so much confetti. I think it brought so much happiness to the crowd though. When you see the cannons, it’s kind of like an “oh shit this is going to be so cool” kind of moment, and let me tell you, it was so cool. Towards the end of the performance, Hoodie and some of his team came out and sprayed a whole case of water bottles at the crowd. I’m glad I wasn’t in the crowd to get soaked, but it was such a rad thing to watch. Hoodie ended his show with “No Problem” playing over the speakers and him handing out setlists to people in the crowd.
I’m telling you, this was one of the best shows I’ve seen in a while. You could easily see and feel the energy. You could see how excited the fans were. You could see how happy Hoodie was to be performing again. You could see that sparkle in his eye. These types of moments are what make concerts worth going to. If you have the chance to go to a show on this tour, I definitely recommend it. This show is not one to miss out on. Plus, Hoodie said St. Louis was the loudest city on the tour so far, so if you want to beat that, there’s only one way.
