Sommerville’s Once Ballroom was packed Friday night as hundreds of fans eagerly filled the venue in anticipation of the night’s festivities.

And that night’s? The Faim and Stand Atlantic.

But before the headliners took their turns sharing the stage, their two openers helped warm up the crowd. The first of which being Hold Close.

A four piece pop-punk band from Springfield, Missouri, Hold Close took the stage around 7pm and immediately got the room grooving along to their sound.

Though their set was short, they made sure to include crowd favorites “Breath,” “Hang Tight,” and their latest single “Tropical Depression.”\

And while some of the crowd were new to Hold Close’s music, everyone in the venue seemed to be enjoying their unique mix of light vocals, electro-keyboard heavy and guitar driven sounds.

Following Hold Close were second billed openers, WSTR- A UK based pop-punk band frequently confused for fellow UK band Neck Deep.

Kicking it off with their song “Footprints,” WSTR immediately had the crowd moshing, dancing and screaming along to their up-beat tracks.

Their seven song setlist included the band’s top tracks “Eastbound & Down,” “Bad to the Bone,” and their recently released “Filthy.”

“It’s our job as openers to warm you up for Stand Atlantic and The Faim,” frontman Sammy Clifford announced mid set. “So I want to see you sing and dance. Let’s go!”

Though their set, much like Hold Close’s, came to an end too soon, the band had a special surprise planned for fans, and they were joined on stage by Hold Close’s Braxton Smiley for some extra vocals during their final song “Crisis.”

And while both openers had the crowd moving and grooving along, nobody got them moving like the first of the two headliners- Stand Atlantic.

Kicking it off with an epic drum solo performed by drummer Jonno Panichi, Stand Atlantic entered on a bang.

Starting of the set with “Bullfrog,” “Speak Slow,” and “Push,” the four piece band brought the room’s energy levels up ten fold- immediately starting a mosh pit and causing a sudden rush towards the stage.

With a mix of old and new songs, the Australian natives had fans singing lyrics back at them twice as loudly as frontwoman Bonnie Fraser was singing. Including during their newest single “Hate Me (Sometimes)” which was only released last month.

And, like WSTR, the band brought out special guest Hot Milk’s Hannah to help out on some tracks.

And though Stand Atlantic are known for being a rock band, they did take a few minutes off from their rock tracks to allow the crowd to rest.

“Can we slow it down a little bit?” Frontwoman Bonnie Fraser asked the crowd before playing slower songs “Toothpick” and “Burn in the Afterthought.” “Is that alright?”

The band’s fourteen song set included other hits such as “Sidewinder,” “Lost My Cool,” “Coffee at Midnight,” and their final song “Lavender Bones.”

And then, following a brief intermission where everyone had a chance to grab some much needed hydration, the final act of the night took the stage.

Opening with their song “Saints of the Sinners,” The Faim took the stage to immediate roars of applause and cheers.

The audience condensed themselves towards the stage and happily sang and danced along with the band’s heavier tracks, including “My Heart Needs to Breathe,” “Summer is a Curse,” and “Humans.”

With the most energy of all the acts of the night, fontman Josh Raven commanded the stage in a way that kept everyone’s attention front and center.

This was their time to shine, and they proved how they earned the title of headlining act.

Their fifteen song setlist also included crows favorites “Midland Line,” “A Million Stars,” “Words Apart,” and “Amelie.”

And when they closed out the night with their recently released album’s titular track “State of Mind,” they left fans exhausted from dancing, but longing for more.

You can view our photos of all acts below, and be sure to catch The Faim and Stand Atlantic when they hit your city this month.

Hold Close

WSTR

Stand Atlantic

The Faim