little image may technically appear as the opening act on The Academy Is…‘s current tour run, but standing inside Irving Plaza on Saturday, it felt far less like an opener and far more like a co-headline carved by fate: the audience packed in early, everyone gazing at the stage in wonder, completely tuned in. Both bands carry that are kind of starpower that doesn’t just impress – it swallows you whole. They inhabit the stage like it’s a second skin, and little image set the tone with this warm, luminous charisma that primed the room for everything The Academy Is… would soon deliver. For many fans, this tour poster reads like a fever dream pulled straight from a teenage playlist: two indie-rock outfits whose worlds blend as naturally as colors bleeding into the same watercolor page.

Born in Dallas, Texas, little image often gets tucked into the “alternative-pop” category, but that label barely skims the surface. There’s a restless spark to them, a grit beneath the gloss, that betrays their indie-rock beginnings. Their songs may play well on the radio, but live, they bloom into something more raw, more earnest, more alive. Formed in 2017 while the trio was still wading through high school hallways, they pushed forward with a momentum most bands only fantasize about. They self-released Musings before adulthood even settled, and in 2020, the moniker little image finally crystallized with their single “WORTH IT.” The pandemic pressed pause on their plans, but they didn’t freeze; they evolved. They folded atmospheric synths into their foundation, experimented in the dark, and emerged with a sound that felt like their true fingerprint.

Once the world reopened, the industry noticed. A major label came knocking, they released SELF TITLED, and “OUT OF MY MIND” quietly went viral – the kind of track people hum for months before realizing who wrote it. IHeartRadio naming them an “Artist to Watch” wasn’t prophetic; it was overdue. As 2026 approaches, this feels less like mere accolades and more like inevitability. And with their newest single, “KILL THE GHOST,” the band is clearly gearing up for a chapter that promises to be their boldest yet.

Walking into Irving Plaza, I thought I had a solid grasp of what little image sounded like. A few songs scattered across my playlists over the years, a passing familiarity. But I did myself a disservice by not falling deeper sooner. If Saturday night revealed anything, it’s this: don’t skip the opener, especially when the opener is little image. If you didn’t know them when you stepped through the venue doors, you knew them by the second chorus of the first song. Their spirit is magnetic, a exhuberance that ripples off the stage with no hesitation. Their chemistry is palpable and lived-in, the kind of synchrony that only forms when a band grows up together, breathes together, and learns each other’s rhythms in real time.

Their setlist stacked the hits, which made perfect sense for a shorter slot, but it only skimmed the surface of how deep their catalog truly runs. I’m practically begging for a headlining tour now, especially with new music lingering like a secret on the horizon. Their sonic DNA meshes seamlessly with artists like LANY, The 1975, Wallows, and The Band CAMINO – a natural thred woven among bands who shape that emotional, neon-lit corner of alternative pop-rock. little image feels poised for that same trajectory; it’s just a matter of when, not if.

“THE PRESSURE” cracked open the night: airy at first, then dropping into this gorgeous surge of musicianship that introduced little image without a hint of hesitation. “BLUE” and “NOVOCAINE” followed, and then the crowd hit that beautiful moment of recognition with “STRANGE FRIENDS” and “OUT OF MY MIND.” You could feel the shift. People swayed a little harder, sang a little louder. “OUT OF MY MIND” is one of those songs you forget you know word-for-word until the first line hits, unlocking a tiny memory of the moment you first stumbled upon it.

They closed with “KILL THE GHOST,” their newest chapter, and the performance felt like a cinematic curtain fall – a bridge between everything they’ve built and everything they’re about to become. Instead of ending exactly where the recording ends, they streched the outro into something towering and visceral. It was grungey, brilliantly distorted, yet still somehow polished – a full-throttle showcase of what this band can do. They poured everything they had onto that stage, and when they came forward to bow under the lights, there was this unspoken truth hanging in the air: we were all under little image’s spell, whether we realized it at the start or not.

little image is continuing with The Academy Is… through late December, and if you’re lucky enough to be near any of the remaining tour stops, you need to catch this lineup in the flesh. It feels like a storybook pairing, scribbled by someone who believes in musical soulmates. little image is closing out the year on an unforgettable high, and if 2026 is anything like the momentum already building, they’re headed for headlining stages far bigger than the ones they’re opening on now. Get on board early; it’s always sweeter when you can say you were there before the rest of the world caught up.