THE HELLP & Bassvictim: Live Debut in Chicago
Reggie's Rock Club - CHICAGO, IL - November 9th, 2024
Written by: ESPEN Hammes | NOVEMBER 12th, 2024
If you thought skinny jeans and leather jackets were dead, don’t worry, you’re wrong: just ask The Hellp. Borrowing aesthetics and sounds from electroclash, country, and punk rock, The Hellp might be the greatest band you haven’t heard of yet–and they’ll tell you that themselves. Frontmen Noah Dillon and Chandler Ransom Lucy have been producing and writing music together for a decade, but their current hype is unrivaled when compared to their past, due to a string of summer singles and a debut fourteen-track LP from October. The Hellp wants to conquer the mainstream but want to dominate the underground before that happens, a desire present in their latest effort. Their style samples and chops an assortment of media, including influences such as Crystal Castles, Kanye West, and even ASMR YouTube videos. These elements are infused with Noah’s versatile vocals, twitchy synths which bounce through the mix, and drum machines keeping the sound balanced.
Given their recent momentum, it only made sense for The Hellp to announce their first North American tour a few months ago, including first stops in several U.S. cities, such as San Francisco, Salt Lake City, Washington D.C., Nashville, Austin, Phoenix, and (of course) Chicago, hitting L.A. and N.Y. as well.
The venue, Reggie’s Rock Club, was a small room with walls made of brick and standing-room for only four hundred; however, this isn’t a complaint as the size made the event feel exclusive. It was as if the audience was going to experience something great and it could only happen here in the South Loop of Chicago, or in other rooms scattered across the country like these. The aforementioned greatness came to fruition as the opener, Bassvictim, took the stage. Maria Manow, the lead singer, quickly peeked behind the security curtains before stepping out and introducing the audience to Ike C, who handles production for the group. Hailing from Poland and the UK, Maria’s accent is a key factor in what shapes the band’s sound, which was present as she talked and sang.
Without warning, thunderous bass shook the venue as Ike unleashed a wave of sound unto the audience, leading immediately into their newest single, “Alice”, as the crowd transfigured into a mosh pit. Maria was moving during the whole set– swinging her hair back and forth dramatically, dancing or jumping up and down to her songs, reaching out and touching the crowd, allowing the front row to scream lyrics into her microphone, and at one point even asking for cigarettes and a lighter. Ike on the other hand stood stoic behind the setup, occasionally talking with Maria, but primarily focusing on pulverizing the crowd with his mixes. Bassvictim’s sound was so heavy, it felt as if you could be pushed around by it even if a crowd weren’t there, but every so often a gentle moment would occur, during which Maria enchants the crowd with her soft, accented vocals. It’s no surprise that their merch reads, “I was a victim of the bass,” as whether it’s through shock or allure, it’s difficult not to succumb to Bassvictim’s sound.
A majority of Bassvictim’s songs follow a loud/quiet/loud dynamic, but some, such as “Canary Wharf drift”, never embrace the quiet, which prodded an even more energetic reaction from the crowd than Alice. Fully invigorated by this point, Maria requested that the mosh pit be opened with the intention of performing the band’s hit, “Air on a G String.” She performed in the middle of the crowd, as a flurry of cellphones and bodies bounced around her, before getting back on stage as the song closed. After more tracks from their debut Basspunk and another single “Curse is Lifted,” Maria planned to enter the crowd again. During the industrial buildup of “As Long As,” Maria turned and announced, “I’m gonna jump, bro.” When the beat dropped, Maria launched herself into the swarm of arms and was crowd surfing a few feet away, still singing the Polish lyrics and carelessly waving her free hand in the air. To close out their set, Bassvictim debuted an unreleased track from their upcoming project Basspunk2. Seeing Maria perform solo with the crowd unaware of the lyrics to the new song was mesmerizing, and (to me) the greatest part of their set; she ended the set hunched over intensely yelling the final string of lyrics to the track, before slowly walking off and softly stating, “Bassvictim, bye.”
Then, it was time for the headliner, The Hellp. As smoke began to fill the venue, the two L’s on stage lit up, and the duo surfaced to an uproar of applause and cheer. Noah took center stage at his microphone while Chandler was stationed behind his mixers on stage left. Akin to Bassvictim’s set, The Hellp opened with layers of experimental sound before going right into a
song. Through the grating clatter and thumping bass being pushed through the speakers, Noah would yelp and woo, which was being echoed back by a modulated delay: “Hey-y-y-y.” Among the noise, I could hear a feminine voice buried in the mix saying, “We are going to start with level yellow,” a sample from YouTuber Charlie Lorainne ASMR–indicative that the band was about to go into their track “Rllynice.”
The Hellp played a majority of their new album, LL, starting their show with: “Rllynice”, “Colorado”, “Caustic”, “LL”, and “Stunn”. Chandler’s live mixes–which you can periodically find him working on during an Instagram Live–took the band’s songs to new levels; each element seemed to be magnified by tenfold. The bass shook the brick walls while Noah lurched and leaned on his mic, providing his dynamic vocals. The hooks to their songs were even more infectious, such as during “LL,” with the crowd reflecting Noah’s vocals back at him, “Cause the daylight can never confine you, it’s all around you now / 26-5, 4-7-2, you’re anybody else’s point of view.” “LL” was especially spectacular, as it capped off with Chandler slipping in a sample from “Wonderwall” by Oasis: “I don’t believe that anybody feels the way I do about you now,” giving The Hellp the ability to say they “played Wonderwall,” a popular joke in live music performance. After five straight from the new album, they played fan favorites “meant2be” and “California Dream Girl,” which didn’t make their way onto the LP but got a tremendously positive reaction from the crowd regardless.
This show being The Hellp’s first in Chicago, a passion was unleashed about halfway through the set. This passion brought with it older songs, such as “Lord Jesus” , somewhat of a gentle ballad from the Vol. 1 EP– a track which hadn’t been played on tour up until this point. Noah hung his head and almost kneeled, before starting the intro, “Lord Jesus / Got the Lord Jesus / He comes to me when I have fallen down,” then he turned to the crowd, “Chicago-o-o-o,” the familiar delay kicking back in. The Hellp continued with more tracks from LL, including “Sinamen” and “9_21”, but the standouts came from their earlier EP’s. Songs such as “Undertow” and “Height” from Enemy and “Vertigo” from Vol. 1, resonated with the older fans, and brought an intensity from the performers. The Hellp closed the night out with their hit “SSX” as the stage lights shifted from white to yellow to blue, coloring the smoke surrounding the band. As the song swirled to its crescendo, Noah stomped in time with the beat and delivered his final lyrics,
circling back to the song’s hook, “Cause I need horses like you need drugs / Tell me why honey is sweeter than blood.” The two then met at center stage in order to take a bow, but as soon as they stepped backstage, the audience erupted in unison, “ONE MORE SONG! ONE MORE SONG!.”
For their encore, they returned with “Air Bnb Sonnet,” a fan favorite from Enemy, followed by “Tu Tu Neurotic”, their biggest hit on streaming services. Before starting “Tu Tu Neurotic”, for the finale, Noah urged the pit to form a circle, “Open the pit, you’ve been to a Carti show,” in reference to the rapper Playboi Carti. Their final song got a fantastic response from the audience, with everyone bouncing and swaying in a frenzy. As the outro began the crowd grew excited, as the band blended the sound into a cover of Lady Gaga’s “Just Dance”, a remix which has become a staple on the tour. Looking around at one point I could only see people flying back and forth through the crowd. Then, the lights dimmed and The Hellp went backstage for good, marking an unforgettable night for everyone in attendance. Backed by raw energy, masterful live production, and an up-and-coming opener, The Hellp proved that they’re going to be a force in music and push far past their emerging status. It was hard for the audience to restrain their awe, knowing that they may have witnessed two groups establish themselves as future icons, each with their own ambitious goals. If this show was any indication of what’s to come for Bassvictim and The Hellp, they’re well on their way to stardom.
Bassvictim Setlist:
Alice
Canary Wharf drift
Air On A G String
Flop
I Like It
Vacation
L-ON-D-ON
Curse is Lifted
As Long As
[Unreleased Song]
The Hellp Setlist: