The Hippos
with Teen Heroes, Jeffrie's Fan Club, and Unleaded Plus
The Roxy in West Hollywood, California
October 24, 1997
Written by Evan Zelig


A Friday night at The Roxy was the scene for what was to become a sold-out show by some of today's hottest bands, including the headliners for the evening, The Hippos. But this wasn't just another show for The Hippos - it was an acomplishment for them because it was their very first time headlining the Roxy theatre and they were going to let the crowd know that they appreciated it. 

Following the three bands that opened up the show, Unleaded Plus, Jeffrie's Fan Club, and Teen Heroes, the lights of the Roxy focused on the stage once again as the crowd of teens cheered for The Hippos. But the teens weren't the only ones cheering, for among the crowd of about 500 were members of another terrific ska band, Reel Big FIsh. 

As The Hippos took the stage and unveiled their newly made banner in the backdrop, the crowd pushed forward to be as close as possible to the band as they began their set. And right from the beginning, for about an hour and fifteen minutes, The Hippos played some of the best music on the local scene today. 

Playing songs from their Forget The World release on Stiffdog Records, The Hippos had the audience jumping to the upbeats of the guitar and skanking as best they could on the capacity dance floor. The band played almost every song from their Forget The World album including "Irie," "Asleep At The Wheel," "Don't Worry," "Celebrate," "When Will I Learn," and their spectaculr rendition of The Police's "So Lonely." And for every one of these songs The Hippos were joined by almost every person in the crowd, including Aaron Barrett of Reel Big Fish, in singing the songs. It was clear that this crowd loved The Hippos and that most people in attendance were loyal fans of the band. 

After playing almost non-stop for a good hour, The Hippos once again thanked the audience for coming to see their show and thanked them for helping to sell out The Roxy. Then, they told the audience they were going to play one more song and proceeded to play the title song from their album, "Forget The World." 

After the song was over members of The Hippos started to pack up their instruments, but the audience wasn't going to let that happen as they cheered and chanted repeatedly for The Hippos to play one more song. So after about five minutes of talking amongst themselves, The Hippos, now joined on stage by the members of Unleaded Plus and two girls fromthe audience played their cover of Operation Ivy's "Freeze Up," which appears on the newly released Take Warning: The Songs Of Operation Ivy compilation. 

Finally, The Hippos finished their performance and told the audience that they were done, but would stay and chat by their merchandise booth. This seemed acceptable to some as they made their way to the booth, but others were still disappointed. Not by The Hippos' performance, but because of the fact that they were not allowed to perform longer! 

It was a terrific show for all in attendance, proving to me once again that The Hippos are definitely one of the bands to keep your eye on in the future. I strongly recommend catching one of their performance soon before they start selling out places much larger than the 500 capacity Roxy Theatre. 


from http://www.concertdirect.com/reviews/hippos_roxy.html