When You’re Pretty bassist Chris Stenger extended his hand into the audience to pull people onto the stage, the show literally took on the in-your-face attitude it had been striving for — and attaining — the entire show.

Fans eagerly accepted Stenger’s hand, dancing and pushing each other around on the Maintenance Shop stage closing out Saturday night’s performance.

However, even before Stenger’s invitation, getting the crowd into You’re Pretty’s music proved to be no difficult task.

From beginning to end, fans huddled close to the stage, eager to soak up the energy radiating from the quartet.

Not surprisingly, lead singer Beth Musolff was the highlight of the show with her intensely chilling vocals. Although she warned the crowd to bear with her because her voice was “going bye-bye,” her pitch was still right on the money for every song.

Musolff’s transitional abilities were a unique treat to the ears. She would wail and snarl into the microphone during a song, then smile sweetly and tell the crowd she loved them afterward. At times she appeared to be teetering on the brink of insanity, gazing wildly into the eyes of her audience. Then she would bring her volume down to a barely audible, desperate whisper, leaving the crowd wondering what just happened, and hoping to hear it again.

Judging by the fans’ faces, which didn’t shift from the stage during You’re Pretty’s set, it seemed easy to identify with Musolff’s lyrics. She generously and painstakingly shared her ideas and experiences, most of which related to relationships.

“This is about one of those relationships everybody has. It’s the kind where you break up, you get back together, you break up, you get back together … So I wrote about it,” Musolff explained as the band launched into a crowd favorite, “What You Do To Me.”

In addition to Musolff, one definite focal point of the show was Stenger. Wearing black leather pants and vest, black lipstick, and his hair in a few tiny spikes poking from his head, he looked like Orgy frontman Jay Gordon gone goth. He stomped dramatically around the stage in his gigantic, fiery combat boots, tirelessly tempting the crowd to drown itself in the enigmatic flood flowing from the rhythm and percussion sections, which also included guitarist Steven Kern and drummer Dave Keckeisen.

Ames band Karma Lab opened Saturday night. The best part of their set came at the end, when they let loose and jammed, shaking their amps and nonchalantly ripping the strings off of their guitars.

Karma Lab’s laid-back approach contrasted with You’re Pretty’s ready-aim-fire style but still managed to more than adequately warm and ready the ears of the audience for the musical onslaught that was to come.