REVIEW: Girlpool, Claud, Hatchie @ The Sinclair 4/23
By Claudia Rosado
Photos by Maya Mabern
On Tuesday, April 23, indie rock band Girlpool performed at The Sinclair, which made for a night of unabashed fun.
The band, who describes their music as “transient fun,” is comprised of Cleo Tucker and Harmony Tividad on guitar and bass respectively, alongside sharing the responsibility of lead vocals. They also brought along a secondary guitar/bass player, synth, and drums, which added grit and a liberating sound to their set. A hyped, gender-bending, and chatty crowd also created a lively atmosphere.
Openers Claud, formerly known as Toast, and Hatchie set the stage for the Los Angeles based duo. Claud’s witty one liners in between songs and sweet personality eased the audience into their late-night dream-pop, playing favorites such as “Scarlett” and “Easy.” Then, Aussie-native Hatchie teased a slew of new songs off her upcoming album Keepsake, ending the set with her most popular track “Sure.”
Girlpool’s first appearance on the Sinclair stage, in their third US tour, was for a soundcheck, with audience members screaming the minute they grabbed their instruments. Wearing a light blue crochet bucket hat with a cram maxi dress and a white over shirt on top, Tividad eagerly waved to the crowd, played a few chords and returned backstage.
With some more chants, the band was back on stage opening with a musical interlude, followed by “Lucy,” their first song on their recently released album, What Chaos Is Imaginary. The venue was comfortably packed, as more people arrived post-openers, with many concert-goers choosing to enjoy the band from the balcony level.
While there were no reaches up towards the performers and a surprising lack of phones recording song after song, Girlpool was extremely engaged with the crowd from the beginning. The whole band was sporting huge ear to ear grins as they transitioned from “Hire” to “It Gets More Blue.” Tucker, who was in a cream-colored sweater and pant combo, became notorious for jumping from foot to foot every other beat.
An outgoing audience member took charge during the band’s opening remarks and yelled out for the songs “Soup” and “Chinatown.” “We’ve never had anyone yell so loud for that song,” said Tucker about the request to play “Soup” specifically. They continued on with their planned set list, playing “Lucky Joke” and “Stale Device,” before receiving another request for “Soup.”
“Should we play it? I’m kinda loving the vibe right now,” said Tividad as she switched from her guitar to a bass. “I don’t have what I need to play it,” replied Tucker, pointing out the lack of saxophone on stage.
They then jumped into a guitar-solo filled rendition of “Swamp and Bay,” which drove the audience to dance and bounce around before slowing it down for a few songs. As they played the titular “What Chaos Is Imaginary,” Tividad’s voice contrasted Tucker’s previous grit, providing an ethereal calm to the end of the set.
Girlpool did have an encore, playing a bass cover of the song “Soup” to a cheery and giggly audience that may have sung louder than them, and their first two songs to get over a million plays on Spotify: “Chinatown” and “123.”
“Thank you for coming,” said Tividad at the end, before adding, “And thank you for your commitment to us.”
