Stars In Stereo from California was on the bill with Black Veil Brides and Bullet For My Valentine; I’d never heard of them or seen them before, so I wasn’t quite sure what to expect. It ended up being a band fronted by a woman, Bec Hollcraft. At first, I enjoyed the band, with their hard-rock intro and flashy lighting. Even though I’m not particularly a fan of female vocalists, I still kept an open mind.
I’m a firm believer that if you’re going to be a frontwoman, you’ve got to know that young girls are going to look at you and possibly base their ideals or expectations of themselves on your actions and appearance. It’s inevitable, and happens positively or negatively; it’s unavoidable. That being said, girl musicians can choose whether to care or not about this issue- it’s all about the intended audience. So, when there’s a crowd of biker dads, preteen girls in Uggs, drunk housewives, and nerdy teen boys, the biker dads might “woo” and teen boys will stare while those girls in their most vulnerable age see you on stage saying things they’ve never heard before, wearing revealing clothing, and basically being a sex symbol.
Though that was on my mind for the majority of the band’s set, I did not get so distracted as to not notice the genuine talent of Bec’s backing band. The drummer, Drew Langan, was definitely the most impressive with his spot-on timing, quality improv, and sheer energy. With that, the bassist Frogs McCormack perfectly connected, creating a strong backbone for the guitarist Jordan McGraw to shred with reckless abandon. Those three then had Bec with her incredibly powerful vocals and constant movement, really putting all the attention on her.
I wasn’t particularly impressed with the band by any means, but I couldn’t help but be slightly disappointed that Bec feels the need to oversexualise herself for popularity. It’s her choice, it was just strange to see because in that genre, it’s less common. Regardless, maybe it will change, but maybe not- either way, I can’t see the band avoiding becoming another stereotypical chick band without some dynamic changes.