New York – Being the opening act can be a difficult role. Whether you’re a singer songwriter taking the stage alone with an acoustic guitar or an indie band the size of a pit orchestra, playing the first slot can mean playing to either an empty house or, if there is an audience, playing before a crowd that likely there to see the headliner. This was something of the case for Stars In Stereo‘s recent show at Irving Plaza. The goth rock band opened for You Me At Six, an increasingly popular English pop rock band.
The room was full, perhaps not to capacity, but close to it. The audience was also fairly young. There were plenty of parents and chaperones waiting in the back and the number of 21+ wristbands seemed to number in the dozens. Stars In Stereo, with their Hot Topic chic outfits, look like they would appeal to this group. Their album, Leave Your Mark, seems like just the thing to get you through those brody middle school years. However, the Irving Plaza audience was not as welcoming as they could have been.
The majority of them weren’t at the show for Stars In Stereo and no amount of prompting from the band’s guitarist Jordan McGraw was going to inspire much of a reaction. He did try though. McGraw ran between the stage and the barricades waving his arms and waggling his fingers, asking the audience to clap and yell and punch the air. He managed to raise the occasional shout from the audience, but it was an uphill battle. The audience would respond when prompted, but they needed to be cued and sometimes cued again. As a result the sing-alongs were halfhearted and the overall response was dull.
It could have been worse; the LA band could have been booed off stage, but it couldn’t have helped the band’s moral. No matter how many picks McGraw threw into the audience, they would not meet him on his level. Nevertheless the band played on and vigorously at that. The lackluster response didn’t seem to dim their spirits. Lead vocalist Bec Hollcraft grinned and danced behind her mic and McGraw jumped off anything he could climb onto. Their set was theatrical and their black/white instruments a nice touch to their rather concrete image. Their album’s lead single, “Leave Your Mark,” translated well to a live setting and the band seemed to have a good chemistry between them. Their show was well choreographed and the songs flowed together well. They even left a window for drummer Drew Langan to solo over a sample of Lil Jon and DJ Snake’s “Turn Down for What.” There was little that Stars In Stereo could have been done to improve the set, except perhaps be You Me At Six.
The exposure gained from touring with and opening for such a well-liked band is well worth the early slot, but in the moment the audience may have made the honor feel a little less so. The crowd wasn’t entirely hostile. Stars in Stereo did have some fans in the audience, but not enough to change how stagnant the room was overall. It was simply a matter of numbers. The tour continues through November 3.
Zoe Marquedant
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