Tropidelic – The Castle Theater

Syd Corpora

Thursday February 22nd, Tropidelic played at the castle theater here in Bloomington with support from Ballyhoo and Palmer Squares. The place was filled with energy from opener to encore. The bands each had a kind of eclectic sound and the pre show playlist reflected that– it was everything from Hip-Hop to Rock and definitely got the crowd ready for the shows we were about to watch.

Palmer Squares Really got the show started off right. The two men performed with only a backing track but this lack of instruments did not equal a lack of energy. They were dancing and laughing as they rapped. They were so comfortable on the stage it was like they were born to be there. Their style was a little quirky. It was giving me sort of Oliver Tree meets the Beastie Boys. They gave their all to their relatively short thirty minute set and left the audience wanting more! Thankfully, they came out with Tropidelic towards the end of the show and brought so much energy to the stage.

Ballyhoo was next and they blew me away. Their style was a mixture of pop punk and reggae beachy vibes with some heavy metal influence. The way they married all of these sounds in their music was masterful. Every member of the band brought so much energy and passion to the stage. The lead guitar player shredded so hard he broke two guitar strings over the course of their hour long set. The members of the band had great rapport on stage often goofing around and making eachother laugh, even dawning cowboy hats and having a western stare down. Personally, it gets me really excited to watch a band perform when you can tell they love performing.

The main event of the night was of course Tropidelic. If the other bands brought energy, this band brought a whole new concept to the stage. They were just explosive. Each member was in some way multi instrumental, constantly switching from one to the other. They had a brass section of a trombone and a trumpet that made their music so punchy and unique. Personally, I love when brass instruments are included in modern alternative music so I was super excited to see them bring those out. They also brought out a whole drum line for a daft punk cover! They also did some awesome stage choreography which was super fun to watch. I couldn’t help but want to dance while watching them on the stage. They were really incredible.

While the night was long, The bands kept energy up and the huge crowd never faltered in singing and dancing along with the artists on stage.