Perhaps the earliest realization I made during lockdown was that I wouldn’t be going to shows for a long time. Pretty soon I was daydreaming about the concerts I skipped, from house shows to clubs to arenas. When quarantine began, all of those misses, all of those “I’ll see them next times” became tangible losses. How long was this thing going to last? How long would we be without shows?
Camp Cope played at the Uptown in Oakland (RIP to one of the many venues that didn’t outlast the pandemic) on May 11th, 2019 – and I didn’t go. I had been introduced to their second album “How to Socialize and Make Friends” a few months earlier, when DJ Stinky of KXSC played one of my band Van Goat‘s songs in a playlist of contemporary female and non-binary fronted bands. Included on that playlist were songs by including Girl In Red, Petal, and Camp Cope – and just like that, I was hooked. As time went on (and the *ahem* pandemic irrevocably changed our lives), the more disappointed I was that I didn’t make it to that Camp Cope show – and the more worried I was that I had missed my chance to see this Australian group at an intimate venue, if ever.
And so, seeing them this week in San Francisco truly felt like a dream fulfilled. Thankfully, Camp Cope’s popularity has only grown, in no small part due to their terrific new album “Running with the Hurricane.” They’ve managed to return to the US, this time playing venues twice the size. Though original bassist Kelly-Dawn Hellmrich was on maternity leave, this tour’s iteration of Camp Cope was as fierce and tender as ever. Singer Georgia Maq recommended that everyone in the audience watch Jewel and Jessica Simpson’s duet “Who Will Save Your Soul,” and it is my civic duty to pass that recommendation on to you. Opener Zzzahara also put on a great show; included in the slideshow are photos of both bands.
Photos by Ben Einstein
Camp Cope | 8/2/22 at the Great American Music Hall | Setlist:
- Keep Growing
- How To Socialize & Make Friends
- One Wink At A Time
- The Mountain
- This Screaming Planet
- Caroline
- Done
- Blue
- Lost (Season One)
- Sing Your Heart Out
- Running With The Hurricane
- The Opener
Artist Bio: Running With The Hurricane finds Camp Cope on the other side of a storm. The third LP from Melbourne trio Georgia Maq, Kelly-Dawn Hellmrich, and Sarah Thompson is about what happens after chaos hits; when you’ve walked through the fire and come out stronger, calmer, and happier than ever before.
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