Grouplove and Bully at Showbox SoDo

If you were at the Showbox SoDo on February 28, consider yourself lucky.

The night started off with a stunning set from Tennessee-based Bully. Front woman Alicia Bognanno graced us with 45 minutes of stripped-down songs from the group’s four albums. While Bully often puts on shows as a quartet, Bognanno carried the entire 45-minute set on her own with just a guitar until, in the latter half of the set, she debuted her live piano performance through palpable nerves.

“Oh god, we still have four more songs,” she said after performing the first piano song. And while she seemed full of anxiety at this point, the crowd’s awe at Bognanno‘s musical stylings hit a crescendo during “How Will I Know,” a tune that quite literally had people in the front row in tears.

And then the finale – alternative pop band Grouplove live in Seattle for the first time in too many years after a COVID outbreak cancelled their planned 2022 appearance. Grouplove is one of those bands whose hits you have heard even if you aren’t an active fan. Most notably, “Tongue Tied“, the most-listened-to single they’ve released, was featured in an Apple iPod Touch commercial in 2011, many late-night shows throughout the years, and covered on the TV show Glee in 2012.

Vocalists Hannah Hooper and Christian Zucconi have incredible chemistry (they are, in fact, married to each other) and end up face to face several times throughout their set. It was especially fun to watch them singing to each other while tangled in a little two-person pile on the floor of the stage. Their visible connection coupled with their recognizable bops made this set one of my favorites of the year.