Hoodie Allen pumps up the House of Blues

White rapper Hoodie Allen returned to Cleveland in March, alongside Super Duper Kyle and Gnash. He was last in Cleveland as an opener for the Wiz Khalifa and Fall Out Boy “Boys of Zummer” tour last summer, which was when I first wanted to attend another of his concerts. Unlike the “Boys of Zummer” tour, which took place at Blossom, Hoodie’s “Happy Camper” tour headlined the House of Blues, a much smaller, more intimate venue and my personal favorite.

Although I was on the outside of the pit for this concert, I got a place only about twenty or thirty feet from the stage, which is what I love about the House of Blues. Any spot is a good spot, whereas even from good seats in a larger, more expensive venue, you still won’t see the performers as well as you can at HoB.

I was intent on meeting Hoodie since he provides such an opportunity to at his concerts, and I ended up waiting in line outside for two hours. It was completely worth it though, as I was one of the first fifty to buy merchandise and so I received a meet and greet, plastic band for after the show. Hoodie was also meeting people at the merch booth if you wanted to stop by and say hi, which is a great opportunity that not many artists give. You can tell Hoodie really values and cares about his fans and making sure they have the best experience possible.

His openers, Gnash and Super Duper Kyle, were full of energy and started the show off well. Kyle and his band had incredible energy, coming out with lightsabers to his song “The Force” and bouncing around stage with his wingman Super Duper Brick. They definitely brought out the fun spirit of the crowd, and I checked out their music immediately the next day because of their performance.

By the time Hoodie Allen came out, the energy in the venue was insane. It’s awesome to be a part of a crowd like that. He put on a great show; my favorite part was when he performed “Cake Boy” and threw three cakes into the crowd. One almost hit me, but thankfully I avoided it due to some taller boys in front of me. He did other little things like climbing up the stage wall and “surfing” the crowd in a raft that made the show unique and memorable.

The best moment by far; however, was when I got to meet him after the show. Each of the fifty people got an autograph and a photo. I was honestly surprised by how sweet and cool Hoodie was. Most rappers are kind of zoned-out and arrogant when it comes to dealing with fans, but he was engaged and friendly. He almost seemed a little shy about everyone being so excited to meet him, which made him even more charming.

Additionally, he encourages all his fans to tweet him about the concert afterwards and he tries to respond to everyone. He’s tweeted at me twice after concerts, and it’s a great way to interact with him.

Overall, the concert was an amazing experience and I will definitely attend the next concert he has in Cleveland. You can find Hoodie’s music for free on Spotify and his website, as well as on iTunes and the Google Play Store for $4.99.