When a concert begins with a ghost parading around on stage, the bar is set pretty high for the acts that follow. Unfortunately, Massachusetts duo Aer failed to reach the bar that their opening acts set at The Fine Line Music Café on Feb. 22. Aer came to Minnesota as a stop on their Word of Mouth Tour with supporting bands RDGLDGRN (pronounced “red gold green”) from Virginia and New Beat Fund from California.

The show began with New Beat Fund. Decked out in bright colors, lots of patterns and silly sunglasses, the four piece group exuded incredible energy and charisma from the moment they stepped on the stage. Throughout their entire set they commanded the stage and remained completely engaged with the audience. After they walked off stage, multiple cries for an encore could be heard despite the fact that opening acts are never brought back on.

Following New Beat Fund was RDGLDGRN, an indie trio. The front man of the group, Green, brought plenty of energy at the beginning of the set, requesting screams and leading the crowd in some basic dance moves, but he struggled to maintain this interactivity for their whole set. A few of the songs they played, such as their song “Bang Bang”, were memorable, but most blended together. The other members of the group, Red and Yellow, talked to the crowd a little bit, but mostly remained engaged with their guitars.

When the headlining group finally came on, those who hadn’t attended an Aer concert before were surprised by the fact that instead of the duo coming on, their touring DJ, DJ Smiles, played a few songs to pump everyone up. The show would’ve been a lot better if DJ Smiles stayed on stage the whole time. The duo composed of Carter Schultz and David von Mering doesn’t seem to have a clear direction with their music. The first few songs they played were very hyped up dance tunes, but they soon faded into more raw rapping. Their inconsistency failed to capture the audience, and by the time von Mering pulled out an acoustic guitar to play a few calmer songs, the energy in the crowd was low, with many people wandering around the venue instead of watching the set. When Aer left the stage for the first time, the crowd thinned out significantly as people flooded out the doors before the duo came back for their encore.

Despite the strong start of the show, this was not a concert many people would enjoy. The music is alright by itself, but a strong concert needs good music and strong performers. Next time Aer is in town, I would recommend skipping the show and doing something more enjoyable, like taking a nap.