venue opens its doors for Krystal Polychronis CD release show

With much trepidation I made the familiar trek up Zion hill toward The Stone Church on March 21. The Newmarket venue, closed since being sold at auction in September, was open for a single night—a CD release party for Hampton-based singer-songwriter Krystal Polychronis. As the wide doors flung open, I could hear the excited chatter of concert goers embracing their beloved hall. They, like me, were anticipating a good show at their favorite venue. 

There was no cover charge, but the room was filled with children holding balloons and doing handstands while someone told a story into the microphone. My initial impression was part birthday party, part basement concert and part family reunion, but the Terrapin Station sign still hung from a reinforced wooden beam and the bar seemed to be open, so I headed that way. 

At this point, an intermission band (apparently Polychronis had done half her set already) was in the midst of one of its many covers. Amongst the U2 and Coldplay covers I think I heard “Eagle Eye Cherry.” The sound system left much to be desired. The mikes were trebly and far louder than the instruments, resulting in some piercing sounds whenever one of the singers got a little overzealous. I did, however, feel my foot tapping every once in a while. The highlight was the last song, when the band invited some guy in a Superman T-shirt up to play lead guitar. He proceeded to blow away the rest of the band during a 15- to 20-second solo. 

As the headliner returned, I was curious to hear what her music would be like. A native of Rochester, Polychronis seemed to have good stage presence as she approached the mike and showed her appreciation for all who had attended. She also revealed that the children in the front row were actually her gymnastics students. This explained their seemingly endless energy and tendency to walk on their hands. 

Again, there were audio issues when Polychronis began her first song of the set. At first, nothing was amplified and she was difficult to hear. Despite a few yells of “we can’t hear you,” she kept her composure and eventually approached the mike, where her voice and guitar simultaneously came back to life. It was then that I realized this girl could really sing, and despite her seemingly bubbly personality, her songs had true depth. 

Once the audio issues subsided, Polychronis settled in with the crowd and sang songs about unappreciated fame and longing for love. Performing from her debut album, she went back and forth between an acoustic 12-string and six-string guitar, and was accompanied at times by a bongo player and the guitarist with the superman T-shirt. She drew cheers from the crowd mid-song whenever she really belted out a note. 

Overall, I had mixed feelings about the night. It was great to have The Stone Church back in action, albeit not in its full capacity. I heard a guitarist that I’d like to find out more about and was thoroughly impressed by Polychronis’ vocals, though it wasn’t necessarily my kind of music. As she says: “It’s important ... to share my music with people. Everyone can relate to music.” And despite the birthday party atmosphere and the less than stellar sound quality, that’s just what she did.