DeKALB | The House Cafe was less than packed for Dr. Manhattan’s performance Wednesday, perhaps due to the unfortunate absence of originally scheduled headliner Wax On Radio.

“Dr. Manhattan and these other bands are going to pull in people regardless,” said John Ugolini of Kickstand Productions. “But not having Wax On Radio play is the difference between having to room full, or having it half empty.”

Wax On Radio was originally booked to headline the show but was forced to back out last minute due to a scheduling conflict regarding the band’s touring schedule with Brazil and Forgive Durden, which kicks off tonight in Fairdale, Ky.

“Tonight was an unfortunate casualty of the music business,” Ugolini said. “Some manager in New York was worried that a show out here in DeKalb would take away from the turnout for their Chicago show [on Feb. 7].”

Although Wax On Radio’s absence was disappointing, Dr. Manhattan, the night’s de facto headliner, was not. The band delivered its usual energetic performance to a scarce, but receptive crowd. Dr. Manhattan, hailing from Wauconda, Ill., dishes out a sound that combines melodic vocal harmonies with more aggressive vocal stylings, set to experimental synth-punk instrumentation.

“We came for Wax on Radio,” said graduate student David Valtierra, who attended the show with his friends. “But we’ve never heard of Dr. Manhattan. We’ve heard they’re pretty good, so we’re sticking around.”

Second in the lineup was Enter. Playing sprawling arrangements that gradually built in intensity, this performance brought to mind DeKalb favorites the Felix Culpa or The Butcher The Vet. Enter will be returning to DeKalb at Otto’s on Feb. 23.

DeKalb’s own Pattern Crawler opened the show. Its abrupt music style and hauntingly semi-spoken lyrics brought to mind a unique mix of At The Drive-In and Cursive.