Hoodie Allen took the stage at The Observatory OC for the Santa Ana, Calif. date of his Happy Camper tour on Feb. 10. This was the first show of three Southern California dates on this tour.
Openers included Blackbear and Superduperkyle that took the stage to warm up the crowd that was trickling into the venue before Allen’s 10 p.m. call time.
Allen, who lists his musical styling as “Hoodie-hop” in the genre section of his Facebook page, is originally from Long Island, NY. He has created a sizable following for himself all across the globe.
Shortly before he kicked off his tour, Allen, released his second studio album titled “Happy Camper.” This album is available for purchase or for free download. Opening acts Blackbear and Superduperkyle are featured on this album.
Once Allen walked on the stage that was backlit by panel lights, the sold-out crowd went crazy and sang along to “Intro to Anxiety.” Allen peered out into the crowd with a huge grin on his face.
While singing his song “No Faith in Brooklyn” he smoothly transitioned into a cover of “Love Yourself” by Justin Bieber; pleasantly catching the unexpected concert attendees off guard. This was the first of many surprises to come.
Performing a cover of the song “Stressed Out” by the popular band Twenty One Pilots, Allen gave the room a different vibe for a few minutes.
During the middle of the set, Allen disappeared from the stage while live musicians kept the crown pumped up with a cool riff. Little did anyone know that in the middle of the venue Allen would pop up on a tall box to sing his song “Cake Boy.”
When signaled, one of his stage hands handed him a cake. At that moment Allen chucked the chocolate frosted cake towards the fans on the balcony. The cake didn’t quite make it that far and landed on the fans down below.
Making his way back to the stage, Allen was joined by Blackbear for their song “Surprise Party.” This was followed up by Superduperkyle joining them on stage for the fan favorite song “Champagne and Pools” which features the tour mates.
With a few more tricks up his sleeve, Allen got a hold of an inflatable raft and attempted to crowd surf but only made it halfway in when he was tipped out of the boat and into the crowd.
Back on stage he made a remark about how he was both Jack and Rose from “Titanic.” He later posted on social media that walking through the crowd was something similar to a real life “The Walking Dead” experience.
Allen then sang his popular song “No Interruptions” with the crowd singing and dancing along; four canons shot off and showered the crowd in confetti.
Allen ended the night by giving away his set-list and drumsticks to fans in the crowd and promised to meet people at his merch booth.
The Happy Camper travels throughout North America until March 22. It ends in Allen’s home state of New York.
