Sometimes, woe is…the opener.

An opening gig can be quite the enigma. On one hand, it’s a great way to get a new(ish) band in front of hundreds or thousands of new fans on (mostly) somebody else’s dime, however, the cons can be annoyingly long withstanding: half-empty crowds, ambivalent audiences, extremely early set times. Being an opener can be a raw deal sometimes that takes a lot of hard work and perseverance. For Rochester, N.Y.’s indie-electronic Joywave, who’s been on tour with Metric for the last couple months, last week’s too early set to a too-sober crowd in Wallingford, Conn. proved to be a struggle – but not at any fault of the band’s; rather, the crowd simply didn’t deserve the New Yorkers’ building energy and tight flow.

Best known for their collaboration with Big Data in 2013, Joywave’s indie rock is animated with programming and keyboards that give them an edgy, yet still accessible indie-electronic-pop rock fusion. Last week at The Dome, the band kicked off their 45-minute set with a one-two punch of “In Clover” and “Feels Like A Lie,” which should have jump-started the sickest dance party Wallingford had ever seen. The crowd remained stiff while frontman Dan Armbruster and his cohorts slid from one track right into the next, matching a pulsating bass line with a pounding bass drum beat, which was supported by Benjamin Bailey’s keys and non-stop rock star energy. Seriously, the guy was like Will Ferrell with a cowbell. He lost his mind behind his keyboard. He may have been having the most fun out of anyone in the room and that attitude definitely carried in our direction.

The crowd livened a bit at the band’s poppier, most mainstream cut, “Now,” but even the zany, dance-your-heart-out synths couldn’t really awaken the deadbeats in the crowd that night. Regardless, this didn’t stop Joywave from giving it their all and putting on one of the best opening sets I’ve seen of late. Their on stage chemistry and cohesion was contagious, and they made me want to push through the stale crowd and start my own one-man dance party front and center.

The band continued to prove it was in full control, carefully timing slower songs, like the ominous “Bad Dreams” (which sounded so powerful in person), and flipping the switch in seconds to hit the first notes of “Somebody New,” the lead track off their debut LP “How Do You Feel Now?” Their flow was not only impeccable, but masterful even. After, the band bowed out with another combo, this time the album’s most domineering hits, “Tongues” and “Destruction,” which had attitude and dance-worthy beats for days. It was an absolutely heart-exploding, face-melting set with the shittiest crowd ever, but Armbruster, Bailey and the rest powered through and rose above it.

I do wonder how the rest of the Metric tour went for them, but the overly-corporate, stale Dome at The Oakdale definitely wasn’t the right venue for what they do. Joywave would KILL at a festival, surrounded by an active, participating crowd. At a small club in NYC, they would tear the fucking roof off. They know exactly how to control and balance the many different genres and paces found on their record, and with a better crowd, it would be one of the coolest live experiences to hit Connecticut.

I look forward to seeing them again with a savvier crowd of music fans, all with their own Ben-Bailey-style intensity; people who actually want to experience something rather than pass time idly as they await the headliners. Because Joywave is ear candy and they crush it live.