The beeping of ticket scanners rang through the door of The Ready Room as the line neared. The blue interior and concrete floor peeked out from around the corner before entering the stage area. From there, a river of people with painted faces came into view.

On the 22, Walk the Moon brought Shut Up + Tour to The Grove in St. Louis. The face paint, a trademark of Walk the Moons live performances, has become a tradition at their live shows all over the country. In the past, they’ve even provided it themselves.

Although before they performed in support of Panic! at the Disco I had paid no mind to them, I came away from the Big Summer Show this July knowing that they put on a high energy show and made wonderful music, remnant of the 80s. They would be easy to fall in love with. Now, three months later, I was entering the venue for a show they were headlining.

Kicking the show off was a trio known as Public, whom I hadn’t bothered to listen to before seeing them live. But man, do I wish I had. Their set, lasting about half an hour, is now one of the best openers I’ve seen. With a cover of Britney Spears “Toxic” that was better than the original, how could they not be? After the show I was even lucky enough to meet them and have them sign my cd and take a few photos.

After nearly half an hour of stage setting, Walk the Moon brought life back to the room in a halo of purple lights with a lively performance of “Tightrope,” a single from their 2012 self-titled album. The crowd went insane. Not long into the set, lead singer and keyboardist Nicholas Petricca subtly told the audience to put their phones away and that they’d enjoy the show quite a bit more if they didn’t watch it through the screens; most members of the crowd obliged.

Having avoided finding a set list, I had no idea that they planned to play so many songs off of their upcoming album, let alone six. Among the new songs performed was one that has gained a lot of radio play recently, “Shut Up and Dance,” the track the tour was titled after.

Before the performance of “I Can Lift a Car,” Petricca took the chance to address the crowd another time. He asked that we take all of our bad energy, everything that has been making us feel tired, angry or sad, anything that’s making us feel like we are not ourselves, and push it up and out of our bodies. During the chorus, we were to thrust our hands into the air as if we were doing just that.

After exiting the stage after “Anna Sun” and returning to play the pair of encore songs, “Iscariot” and “Jenny,” Walk the Moon exited the stage for the final time of the night.

Next time Walk the Moon hits STL, they’re definitely going to need to be at a bigger venue because The Ready Room was packed. There was never a dull moment the entire set. Needless to say, I left an even bigger fan of Walk the Moon than I was when I entered, if that is even possible.

Pick up their new album, Talking Is Hard, on Dec. 2.