Last Wednesday, the LA rockers of Starcrawler brought their characteristically wild energy to ONCE Somerville to showcase their new album, Devour You. Test Meat promptly kicked things off with forceful, overdriven electric guitar and driving drum beats to set the pace for the night. Dan Luke and the Raid followed up with a tonal shift to their cleaner, sprightlier sound, playing tracks off their debut album, Out Of The Blue (coincidentally released on October 11th, the same day as Devour You).

Starcrawler began their frenetic set with a build-up to “Home Alone,” as band members took to the stage and began playing one-by-one until front woman Arrow de Wilde suddenly emerged from within the audience to take her place. Once the momentum built, there was no stopping the band’s relentless energy, even when a microphone briefly stopped working mid-song. De Wilde and guitarist Henri Cash dominated the stage with their animated antics, leaving little room for talk between songs as they performed all but one track from Devour You, selections from their catalogue, and a cover of The Ramones’ “Pet Sematary.” Their interaction with the audience was decidedly more physical, and by the end of the set, de Wilde had crowd-surfed her way off the stage, while Cash handed his guitar over to a fan to finish an extended outro of “Chicken Woman” and bring the night to a close. Starcrawler are a welcome, in-your-face reminder that rockstar showmanship is alive and well.

See below for photos from the show (in order: Starcrawler, Dan Luke and the Raid, and Test Meat):