Flyleaf at Irving Plaza

For fans of the Texas hard rock band Flyleaf, the question has been how well the new lead singer, Kristen May, formerly of the Kansas City band Vedera, would fit all the songs written for and sung by Lacey Strum these past 10 years. On all the band’s million-selling recordings, even the current release, New Horizons, Strum sung and shouted with soaring angst in front of a wall of powerful rock. Strum left the band upon the arrival of her firstborn, Jack, in 2011, and this is the band’s first tour with May as the replacement.

At Irving Plaza tonight, Flyleaf was on fire. Taking photographs was difficult, for instance, because the energized band members never stopped moving, whether jumping or racing across the stage or flying off of the monitors. As for May’s performance, she fronted the band, engaged the audience and belted out the Flyleaf catalog, but her vocals were overwhelmed by the volume of the band’s music. She replicated the melodies, perhaps with a sweeter and lighter timbre than Lacey's notoriously gritty delivery, but the live mix did not allow for the crisp vocal delivery that jumps out on the albums.