In a moment of silence as the audience prepared for the concert to begin, Adam from ASTR got on stage. His face illuminated by the glow of his Macbook, he started the opening song as his partner in electronic music, Zoe, prepared herself.

From its energy to its music, the Schine Underground became electric.

On Wednesday night, University Union presented the 2014 Bandersnatch Concert Series featuring St. Lucia and ASTR. Students eagerly awaited the show, pressed against the gate separating them from the stage. Every time the venue’s back door opened, some concertgoers mistakenly thought they were the artists about to enter.

The night began with ASTR opening for St. Lucia. ASTR, a Brooklyn duo that met in a yoga class, hyped up the crowd with an eclectic music style, coined by themselves as “electronic R&B with a little coriander.”

Zoe and Adam make up ASTR. Their name came from bouncing ideas off each other until they finally came up with something they liked. The name stuck, because they were about to go with “Sock Puppets.”

“We made a list,” Zoe said, remembering writing “ASTR” on a napkin. “This is the one. I love this,” she recollected.

After coming up with a band title they both could agree on, Zoe wrote it on a napkin in sharpie. The inky, ragged font became their signature style.

ASTR came out on stage looking unassuming — Adam in long sleeves and hipster glasses and Zoe in a black sports bra and gray pencil skirt. Zoe wore her hair as a reddish brown cascade of a braid parted to the side, and there was an animalistic look in her eyes.

“Baby, come lay your head down, I don’t want to know what you did before,” She purred into the microphone. Adam methodically played the drums and she danced in between lyrics.

A new group, ASTR is starting to gain notability for opening acts. Their goal is to work on an album this year, and after they perform at South By Southwest, they are determined to work on a song each month.

ASTR kept the crowd excited. Some danced. Others took pictures on their phones and tweeted where they were.  An underground band, ASTR had moments where they were obviously working out the kinks of their image. Zoe danced almost awkwardly throughout the set, and her heartfelt moves intensified with the encouraging cheer from the audience.

“I was surprised,” said Erica Hoffman, a sophomore undeclared major. “They have potential.”

ASTR closed out with a few more popular songs from their EP, and then a cover of Drake’s “Hold On, We’re Going Home.”

“Their version of Going Home is beautiful,” said Janell LeMon, a junior psychology major. “I know their music already so I wanted to see them.”

But nothing quite prepared the audience for St. Lucia. After a few minutes of setting the stage to reveal bright colors reflecting off of their instruments, South African musician Jean-Philip Grobler and his band got on stage. Grobler cracked a smile at the sea of students.

Red and blue lights flickered as St. Lucia played. Students in the back of the Underground were dancing Boy George-style as their bodies vibrated with the heavy echoes of the instruments.

“Syracuse, I am jealous of one thing,” frontman Jean-Philip Grobler said in between songs. “You have Dinosaur Bar-B-Que.”

St. Lucia performed most of their popular hits, including “Elevate,” where Grobler asked everyone in the audience to jump up during the reprise, and “The Night Comes Again.” They also surprised their fans by covering Chaka Khan’s “Ain’t Nobody.”

During a slower song, lovers embraced one another, dancing under the low lights. They ended their set with an upbeat, techno song with red lights splashing all over the stage. Some students would have stayed there all night if they could, drenched in sweat and euphoria. The concert ended around 10:30 p.m., with concertgoers reluctant to leave.

Members of UU proudly stood in the back, sneaking smiles at each other and taking pictures of their own — also feeling electric, since the show marked the first time the Bandersnatch concert achieved a sold-out year, with St. Lucia, Hudson Mohawke and Danny Brown.

“All of us at University Union are very excited for the concert board for this milestone.  It demonstrates that the Syracuse community appreciates the more niche and up-and-coming acts that we bring to campus each year ” said Mitchell Mason, UU’s press director, in an email.

Published on March 6, 2014 at 1:17 am

Contact Elaina: ekcrocke@syr.edu