Hilltop Hoods the biggest group in Australia after setting new box office record
They were the underdogs of the music industry. But the Adelaide-born Hilltop Hoods have continued to break records with album sales and sold-out concerts to become Australia’s biggest music act.
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The most popular group in Australia right now does not hail from the traditional arenas of rock or pop.
With the sold-out Great Expanse headlining concert at Sydney’s Qudos Bank Arena on Saturday, the Hilltop Hoods confirmed their status as the biggest band in the land.
It was the biggest crowd for one of their own concerts in their 20-year career, although they have drawn audiences of more than 40,000 people for their sets on major festival main stages.
The chart-topping trio set a new box office record for Australian artists at the venue, with more than 15,005 official tickets sold for one concert.
One source suggested the crowd numbers nudged closer to 16,000 and the trio could have easily sold out another Sydney concert if their scheduled had allowed it.
They have sold out two shows at Melbourne’s Rod Laver Arena and Brisbane’s Riverstage, an Adelaide Entertainment Centre concert and finish the tour at Perth’s RAC Arena this Saturday.
While their box office power is evidence enough of their superstar status in Australia, the trio of Suffa, Pressure and Debris have taken hip hop from the underground to the top of the singles and albums charts.
Six of their eight albums have hit No. 1 on the ARIA charts, with the Great Expanse’s debut in February setting a new record for the most chart-topping records by an Australian group, beating out conventional and beloved rock bands including Powderfinger, Midnight Oil, INXS and Cold Chisel.
The Hoods rise from the indie and alternative scene championed by Triple J began with the breakthrough of their infectious earworm single The Nosebleed Section in 2003.
Since then they have consistently amassed hits from each album. I Love It with Sia in 2011 was accredited with four times platinum sales amounting to more than 280,000 singles.
That was eclipsed in 2014 with Cosby Sweater which reached five times platinum and then again in 2016 with 1955 featuring Montaigne certified as six times platinum with more than 500,000 sales.
While once considered the underdogs of the Australian music industry, the Hoods and mates including Illy, have brought it into the mainstream.
Their power to entertain and multi-generational appeal was obvious at the Sydney show with the front row, with a wide demographic of fans from grey-haired fiftysomethings and young families hanging out with more seasoned moshpit dwellers in their 20s.
“We definitely don’t feel as much of an outsider as we used to. We used to feel almost like some kind of novelty,” Suffa aka Matt Lambert said earlier this year.
“I think there are less battle lines drawn between genres now as there were when we first started to play festivals.”
The Great Expanse concert also helped to underscore why their live shows have grown tour to tour.
Unlike conventional artists, they have a decidedly unconventional set-up with a live drummer and horn section flanking Debris as he orchestrates the beats and backing tracks.
They also spent big on the bells and whistles from lighting to pyros.
And while the lion share of the audience’s attention is drawn to the rap battle between Suffa and Pressure — and their seemingly inexhaustible energy on stage — the Hoods keep the show lively with a procession of guests.
Those who sang or rapped alongside the trio on Saturday included Illy, Briggs, Montaigne, Ecca Vandal and their touring vocalist Nyassa.
After they finish their Australian tour this weekend, the Hoods head to Europe in October and the US and Canada in November.
Originally published as Hilltop Hoods the biggest group in Australia after setting new box office record