Show Recap: Grouplove, The Knocks, Saints of Valory

So I don't know a whole lot about how the University of Illinois organization, Star Course, operates, but I'm sure they've been putting in a lot of work this past semester to book a band like Grouplove (which many people have heard of) in the Foellinger auditorium with a couple openers of  relative popularity.  So I'd like to start this article by giving proper credit where it is due.  Congrats to Star Course on a successful show.The night of music began just after 8 with the group from Austin, Texas, Saints of Valory.  Their style is cut from a similar strand as the headliner for the night, so the crowd seemed ready to welcome them to their campus.  Their set was brief and smooth having no large hiccups.  They took themselves very seriously and followed the one-fedora-per-group idea (donned by the drummer), but aside from that, it's hard to find anything bad to say about the band.  They seemed to enjoy themselves on the stage and made a lot of noise on their percussion instruments, ending their set with each member banging on their individual drum kid (except for the singer, whose weapon of choice turned out to be the maracas).  If you were at the show or you're interested in the music the band has to offer, you can get more information about the band from their website here.The electronic duo, the Knocks, followed Saints of Valory on stage entered the stage with an explosion: after just a few keystrokes to set a basic beat for their music, the group immediately began slamming on their double sided drum kit to get the energy going.  Their styles and methods of live mixing were appreciated: with the aforementioned addition of percussion, live and improvised piano lines, drum machines and added effects that were constantly being manually added and vocals whose lyrics consisted strictly of  stories about dancing, a girl getting him to dance, or making everybody else dance.  Their songs were well practiced and their methods of crowd control seemed to work since a good portion of the crowd was going pretty crazy during the whole thing.  Their songs were pretty lengthy, and by the end of their set, the crowd seemed to thin out slightly in preparation for group the headliner of the night.  About fifteen minutes later, the lights dimmed and the crowd grew exponentially around the stage when Grouplove opened with their first track from their newest album, Spreading Rumors.They certainly put on a good show.  The lighting added nicely to the songs being played with smooth and fluid effects during songs like "Naked Kids" and intense strobing and flashing during their performance of songs like "Shark Attack."  The group was well rehearsed and skilled on each of their instruments, switching between guitars and synthesizers regularly to vary their sound from song to song, even breaking out a home-modified 12-string ukulele which was pretty interesting to see.  Their energy and appreciation seemed perfectly sincere during their show which consisted largely of flailing and jumping around stage, throwing themselves to the ground (especially the lead singer, Zucconi) or just general skipping around the stage, which seemed to be the female vocalist's main job in the band, which added greatly to the experience.  The crowd interaction to the band was nice, too.  For a band that has garnered some fame in the past year, they've retained their humility and appreciate that they were put on the "Campus Consciousness Tour."  They even acknowledged the Halloween spirit by sending a shout out to the people still decked out in their costumes, even though they themselves were not except for Hannah Hooper (the female singer), who was wearing a skeleton morphsuit... though it seems that that is her normal attire for shows on this tour.  The set list was well crafted (even though they don't have a whole lot of material to pick from) between old hits, current singles, and songs to promote their new album. From the beginning to the end of their hour and thirty minute set, the crowd was jumping up and down and headbanging with smiles on all their faces.  To close the show, an applause as loud as Grouplove's music reverberated through the auditorium as the band locked arms and bowed in gratitude to their audience, which was a lot more of a heartwarming experience than most pop-rock shows tend to be.I'm interested to see where this band will be in ten years. They appear to have both single and staying power and are continuing to grow, despite their early commercial success with "Tongue Tied."  I, for one, am optimistic about the future of Groulove and would love to see them grow and maybe even see them at U of I one more time before I graduate, though at that point I doubt I'd be able to play them on my radio show.  They really have the ability to make their audience move and smile, especially when playing their hits like the newest single, "Ways to Go."  When they played this song last Friday and everyone was watching the stage and in a good mood, I almost forgot that there were chairs lined across the floor of the auditorium where I'll probably have a few classes in the not so distant future...