The last time Australian trio Camp Cope played Philly was back in 2019 at the First Unitarian Church, touring in support of their excellent sophomore LP How To Socialize and Make Friends – we had a chance to catch them when they played House of Independents in Asbury Park (with Petal and Sidney Gish) the year before (check out our photos here). For their stateside return, they played the larger (and better ventilated) Philly venue Union Transfer, once again with Run For Cover Records label-mate (and Queen of PA) Petal.
It’s been over 3 years since Petal (the recording/stage name of Scranton-based singer-songwriter Kiley Lotz) had played with a band live. For their show at Union Transfer, the current rotation of band members had just met within days of their Philly show (and only rehearsed together once for their show at Webster Hall the night before). You’d never know that, as Lotz and band sounded as magical as ever performing tracks like “Better Than You”, “Tightrope”, “Stardust”, and “Magic Gone” (from their 2018 LP Magic Gone).
Earlier this year, Camp Cope released their latest LP Running with the Hurricane. Compared to prior releases, Hurricane offers a softer, but no less affecting approach. While Georgia Maq’s powerful vocals and Kelly-Dawn Hellmrich’s signature basslines are still there, the band has definitely taken a step forward (or up, as their title track would suggest) with their sound.
Now performing as a 4-piece (and temporarily without bassist extraordinaire Kelly-Dawn Hellmrich), their live show is an even greater spectacle as the extra guitarist frees Georgia Maq to flex her performance chops. Maq exchanged plenty of banter with the audience ranging in topics from sunscreen to fisting. An outspoken advocate for LGBTQ+, reproductive, and Indigenous peoples’ rights (among others), Maq told the crowd that she’d fight anyone who tried to take those rights away and proclaimed “we’re from Australia – we don’t have guns, but we have knives and we’re not afraid to use them”.
Camp Cope are clearly proud of their new album, but weren’t quite sure what the reception would be like from their fans. According to Maq, they’re done with sounding “feral” and Hurricane has more apparent pop influences. They performed mostly new tracks from Hurricane, but played “How To Socialize and Make Friends” and “Lost (Season 1)” from prior releases. During “Blue” (a song that would sound right at home on a Taylor Swift album), they sneakily weaved in the chorus of “Teenage Dirtbag”. Maq began “Sing Your Heart Out” solo on guitar before being re-joined by the band and Kiley Lotz & friends for the song’s climax which has Maq triumphantly singing the lyrics “you can change and so can I”. To the crowd’s delight, they closed out the night with what Maq considers their best songs, “Running with the Hurricane” and anthemic “The Opener”.
Camp Cope are currently wrapping up their North American tour with dates on the West coast. See all of their remaining tour dates here. Check out their recently released music video for “Running with the Hurricane” below and keep scrolling to see more photos from the show.
