Video by Sam Panko

Continuing the trend of great and generally underrated bands coming to Alumni Hall, indie-pop group Smallpools rocked the HUB on Friday night, giving fans a high-energy show to start the weekend off right.

Students in attendance began a countdown as the clock hit 10 p.m., and the band did not disappoint, coming out just a few minutes after its scheduled start time. Introduced by classical music, Smallpools got right into it, starting the show off with the high-energy “Over and Over,” one of four songs from their original, self-titled EP.  The band continued the theme, following up with two more songs off the EP, “No Story Time,” and “Mason Jar,” before taking a break to introduce themselves.

From there, they dove into some of their newer music, asking attendees to get their cellphone lights out before playing “American Love,” and following up with “What’s That a Picture Of.” They then transitioned into a cover of  “A Real Hero,” by College and Electric Youth that changed the feel from upbeat, to slow and a bit more low-key. From there, they continued the new, funky beat with a *killer* remix of their song “Karaoke”, mixed with the Killers “Human,” that got all of Alumni Hall vibing.

After the mash-up, the band got back to its original set, playing the high-energy “Street Fight,” a fan favorite off their album LoveTap!. A “We Are” chant broke out when the song ended, and frontman Sean Scanlon responded with “I was warned that might be coming, I like that.”

Smallpools took little time to get back to serenading Alumni Hall with great covers, playing a mixture of “Lean On,” by DJ Snake and Major Lazer and the classic “Lean On Me.” From that point on, it was an energy-filled sprint to the finish, starting with “Lovetap,” the titular song from the band’s sole album. “When we were first starting out, we used to google ourselves every few days… and we would always see these articles about how it’s abusive to keep killer whales in small pools,” Scanlon said, introducing the band’s penultimate song, “Killer Whales.” “I thought [our name] was fun and quirky, apparently it’s controversial.”

“Killer Whales” got the crowd jumping, and a few (ok, two) ambitious students crowdsurfing, leading into the band’s final act. Scanlon thanked the crowd for the night’s energy and announced that, for those capable, and one wishing to join them for a night out in State College was welcomed. “We’ve got a 7 a.m. flight we need to be hungover for,” he said.

The band closed with their biggest hit “Dreaming,” that gave the show a final burst of energy, hitting a high point for the night. The song was fun and full of energy, a microcosm of the entire show. Our staff was lucky enough to interview the band before the show, check it out below.