Hello Mary Headlines for a Hometown Crowd

october 24th, 2024 - new york city

Hello Mary, an alt-rock trio of native New Yorkers, made their headline tour debut in front of a hometown crowd at Bowery Ballroom, where they’ve previously performed as an opening act. Their return to Bowery Ballroom’s stage was supported by Starcleaner Reunion, Bleary Eyed, and fantasy of a broken heart acting as DJs. This is Hello Mary’s first time headlining a full U.S. tour, but they have plenty of touring experience after supporting seasoned bands including Silversun Pickups and American Football.

Hello Mary’s set opened with an electronic remix of the “Cha Cha Slide.” For a band with moody, grungy songs, the introductory song choice was an unexpected, but fitting, subversion that matches the band’s willingness to experiment with their sound and their refusal to smother their creative process by taking themselves too seriously.

Photo credit: Hannah Edelman

Stella Wave, the band’s drummer/vocalist, emerged first with a few dance moves before she settled behind her drum set. She was followed by bassist Mikaela Oppenheimer and guitarist/vocalist Helena Straight, and the trio launched into “Float,” the opening track from their latest album Emita Ox. The song exemplifies their signature sound characterized by juxtaposition, Mikaela Oppenheimer’s heavy bassline propelling the lightness of Stella Wave and Helena Straight’s ethereal, clear voices against their respective frenzied drumming and fuzzy riffs. “Stinge,” from Hello Mary’s eponymous debut album, follows, its thrashing riff and drums pulsing with the stage lights. The introspective “Courtesy” follows, Wave and Straight’s seamless vocal blend at the center.

A few songs in, Wave addresses the cheering crowd for the first time with a simple “Thank you!” that gets a few laughs because of her directness. Hello Mary’s stage presence is a bit reserved, not out of shyness, but a sense of self-assuredness. Cool and collected, their energy is channeled into their propulsive songs. The three share smiles with each other across the stage, and in Bowery Ballroom’s intimate setting, it feels like the audience is included in the inside joke.

While Bowery Ballroom isn’t a stadium, the size of the venue works in its favor to capture the range of Hello Mary’s sound. Loud enough to rumble all the way to the back of the venue, Oppenheimer’s dense bassline grounds the songs like an earthquake, perfect for the weighty undercurrents of Hello Mary’s songs.

The delicate vocals and heavy riffs translate well live without getting lost, and the careful balance between the three musicians that can be heard on their latest album is upheld by their tight, cohesive performance. Synth-heavy, distorted transitions like the otherworldly track “Hiyeahhi” spliced between songs remind the audience that while Hello Mary is grunge-influenced, they’re not afraid to push the boundaries of genre.

The energetic “Footstep Misstep” has an off-kilter, stumbling pace with crunchy, feedback-heavy instrumental breaks. True to its name, “Heavy Sleeper” is a dream-like reverie, and the melodic, nostalgic restraint of “Bubble” is burst by an intense riff that feels an insistent poke on the shoulder. A feedback screech bleeds into a long cymbal intro the moody “Down My Life,” a song with a bassline so intense it’s bone-deep.

Hello Mary breaks from their Emita Ox standouts to play another song from their debut album, “Sink In.” During “Three,” attentive fans can pick out the lyrics that inspired the album name Emita Ox: “Emita stands politely with her ox’s head resting on her shoulder / the ceiling above them falls apart slowly.” That last line captures how it feels to witness the triumphant, soaring instrumental break in the song, the trio grinning at each other across the stage as they shred.

“0%” is a rowdy, standout song from Emita Ox. The song opens with deceptive lightness that stumbles into a pounding beat and shrieking guitar. Wave breaks into hoarse, unapologetic howls of “I don’t know!” Despite the candidly anxious lyrics, it’s clear that Hello Mary does know what they’re doing when it comes to their music. In just a few years, the band has gone from attending shows at Bowery Ballroom, to playing as opening acts, to headlining. Near the end of their set, Wave thanks everyone for coming and shares how special it is for Hello Mary to headline for a hometown crowd. In the audience, someone proudly holds their copy of Hello Mary’s latest album aloft like a tribute.

Photo credit: Jessica Guerwitz

Hello Mary closes their show with “Everything We Do,” the song’s introspective loneliness at odds with the packed audience in the room, and an ethereal bird-chirping transition into “Knowing You,” the song’s simmering tone and scolding lyrics (“shame you went and drained us of trust”) a scorching send-off.

The show ends with the band waving at the crowd, the last note of feedback from Helena Straight’s guitar blending into the outro playlist. No encore—a return to the stage would feel disingenuous after Hello Mary’s upfront and candid performance style. After all, in front of a hometown audience of friends and family, how could they be anything but themselves?

Listen to Hello Mary’s latest album Emita Ox here, and check out their upcoming tour dates.