The ground trembled, dogs cowered and ear drums shattered last Sunday night as rabid fans flocked to the Fillmore in Silver Spring, Md. to see Internet sensation Team Starkid perform in the SPACE Tour, otherwise known as the Starkid Precarious Auditory Concert Experience.
Currently en route on their first national tour, the Chicago-based fledging theatre production troupe known as Starkid has garnered international attention for their creatively brilliant performances in addition to establishing themselves as Internet royalty with over 100 million YouTube views, 170,000 Facebook fans and 85,000 Twitter followers.
With such a large and — let's be honest here — obsessive fan base, the group has been able to take a break from theater and put together the SPACE Tour, to which the response has been overwhelming.
Tickets for many of the venues were sold out within minutes after going on sale and, in Silver Spring, lines for the concert ran down and around more than five city blocks.
The SPACE Tour was well worth all the hype.
Following the opening acts of the lackluster George Watsky and the charmingly indie Charlene Kaye, a fellow Michigan alum with undeniable style and a sound not unlike that of Sara Bareilles, the seven touring members of Team Starkid robot-walked on stage amidst ear-splintering cheering and thunderous applause.
As they launched into their first number, "I Wanna Be," from their most recent production of Starship, it becomes clear that these seven singers on stage have come a long way from the college undergraduates who first threw together the now famous "A Very Potter Musical" in two weeks.
Their voices ring truer, their choreography grew grander, their transitions slid smoother — and yet, there's still an undefinable spark that is all Starkid, in the way they play off the audience's reactions and in the way they tread a path that is somehow how both laugh-out-loud and absolutely heart-warming.
The Starkids had a two hour set, stepping in front of a background sprinkled with lights and running through songs from all four of their hit YouTube musicals as well as popular older projects such as "Little White Lie."
Almost all of the pieces were written by Darren Criss, now of warbling Glee fame, who also played the very Boy Who Lived and who remains one of the most popular of the troupe, with fans screaming themselves hoarse at just the mention of his name.
Though Criss was not able to appear in Silver Spring — he only joined the tour on its last leg in Boston and New York City — Starkid proved that they can more than hold their own without him.
Their strengths ran in their strong voices and beloved performances, but also surprisingly in the easy give-and-take banter they used between numbers and to set up upcoming songs.
Even when they are on a concert tour, Starkid's greatest asset remains their wit and comedic tendencies.
That is not to say, however, that their songs did not shine either.
Crowd favorites included "Granger Danger," the simple little idea that started it all, and "Stutter," which involved a semi-elaborate and side-splitting dance number (as well as Joe Walker in all of his sculpted muscle glory.)
Another one that set the crowd in a frenzy was "Kick It Up a Notch," featuring Dylan Saunders, who definitely takes home the prize for "Most Improved" between YouTube and real life.
In fact, with a voice that, as Kaye puts it, "is as smooth as butter," Saunders may actually be the strongest singer in the group.
Lauren Lopez is the other stand-out of the bunch, with the acting talent to perform believably as all the characters that she's played over the years, from the mean girl Tanya to the sniveling just-wants-a-friend Draco Malfoy to the Latina tough-chick Taz.
She also has the class of a veteran star — during Starkid's performance of "Granger Danger," when a fan obviously in the throes of hormonal insanity threw her bra on stage at the firmly "all ages tour," clearly as a love plea to the shocked but always adorable Joey Ritcher, Lopez took it all in stride, pocketing the undergarment and protesting that she had never been more flattered.
And though there are stand-outs, there is no doubt that all of Starkid is incredibly talented and works best as a group.
The encore of "Goin' Back to Hogwarts" was especially memorable, but their best performances might have been the ones where they dropped the act — dropped their easy banter and charming characters — and just sang.
"No Way" and "Status Quo" soared above the rest, in both their simple aesthetics and their inspiring message to an audience that was made up of mostly mid-to-late teenagers.
Starkid is many things — a group of good-looking and likable young adults, a troupe of talented entertainers, a bunch of college kids who revolutionized and repaved the road to fame — but above all, they are role models, people who inspire and give hope, and in never forgetting that, Starkid prove that they are, indeed, "totally awesome."
