GROUPLOVE cover Beastie Boys' "Sabotage" at intimate Troubadour gig

GROUPLOVE cover Beastie Boys' "Sabotage" at intimate Troubadour gig
Mark E. Ortega
GrimyGoods.com
January 28. 2015


Saturday night, GROUPLOVE performed their first show in three months at West Hollywood’s Troubadour in an effort to generate money for singer and guitarist Christian Zucconi’s cousin John Toomey, who is in need of a kidney transplant.

It was a rare opportunity to see one of indie rock’s fastest-rising bands in a much more intimate setting and they did not disappoint. Along with churning out fan favorites, GROUPLOVE added a song to their encore that wasn’t previously planned — a cover of the Beastie Boys classic jam “Sabotage” (watch the video below). The band mentioned having only played the song at Lollapalooza last year. Both Zucconi and vocalist Hannah Hooper showed their rhyming skills during the inspired performance.

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Top 20 Favorite Shows of 2014

Top 20 Favorite Shows of 2014
Mark E. Ortega
Medium.com
December 27, 2014


Not counting music festivals, I managed to see exactly 100 live concerts in 2014. Previous to this year, I had seen in the ballpark of 25 concerts, I think? I couldn’t have ever expected to see this many shows, but thanks fo relocating to Los Angeles as well as picking up freelance work writing about music, I was able to make it to a shit ton of concerts. In August, I saw live music for seven straight days, something I wanted to do my whole life. I upstaged that by seeing shows 10 straight days in October, and all of a sudden in December, 100 seemed a realistic goal. I hit that mark with the Dec. 20 Saves the Day & Say Anything show at House of Blues on Sunset.

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Ten Best Live Cover Songs of 2014

Ten Best Live Cover Songs of 2014
Mark E. Ortega
GrimyGoods.com
December 1, 2014

Having been fortunate enough to see around 100 concerts in 2014, not to mention a good number of music festivals, I had the opportunity to see some musicians pull out some pretty bad ass covers during their live sets. After much deliberation, I’ve broken down my Top 10 for the year, which was no easy feat.

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GROUPLOVE helps turn Coachella into COACHELLA

GROUPLOVE helps turn Coachella into COACHELLA
Mark E. Ortega
GrimyGoods.com
April 19, 2014


L.A.’s GROUPLOVE is that high energy show that makes you want to high-five every stranger around you and bask in live music’s awesomeness. Their weekend two Coachella performance had no lulls as Christian Zucconi and Hannah Hooper brought it on the mic as the festival began to really start filling out.

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