CHICAGO – Playing venues from the basement of Willard Residential College to the House of Blues, the Northwestern-originated Foster Walker Complex may be heading for a big break.

The indie rock/pop band, composed of three NU students and one alumnus, played to a crowd of more than 150 at The House of Blues, 329 N. Dearborn St., on Thursday. The 45-minute set opened for Chris Schaffer of Why Store.

“Is there anyone from Northwestern here?” said guitarist and Weinberg senior Danny Levitt, screaming into a microphone as the crowd cheered.

The band expected to draw about 100 fans from Evanston and the Chicago area. Many NU students came only to see the Foster Walker Complex.

“I didn’t even know what the main band was until I got here,” Communications junior Andrew Karaba said.

Neither had the Foster Walker Complex members when first asked to play at the show, said drummer Dave Moyer.

“We never met (Chris Schaffer) or anything like that, but the House of Blues wanted a local opening act,” said Moyer, a Weinberg senior.

The band owed the gig to “a shady network of connections” that they have built in the Chicago music scene, Moyer said.

The band filled a fraction of the 1,300 person capacity of the House of Blues. But by Moyer’s standards, the turnout was good because when bands start out, they aim for five people in attendance per member, he said.

Moyer recognizes that the band still has a lot of work ahead of them.

“It’s not the rock star approach to roll up in a minivan,” said Moyer, joking.

The band has nearly reached self sufficiency, he said.

“We’ve been moving up in the Chicago scene,” said Moyer. “People are starting to give us a shot.”

Judie Smith, 23, who had never heard of the band prior to the show, said they surpassed her expectations.

“It was better than I thought it was going to be when I heard they were still in college,” said Smith, a department store operations manager.

The band appreciates its NU listenership and its name is intended as “an inside joke for Northwestern alums,” Moyer said. Many audience members had a direct connection to the band.

Matt Ryd, a Weinberg junior, is in an a cappella group with the band’s lead singer.

“I saw them when they first started out playing a fundraiser in the Willard basement,” Ryd said.

Medill junior Luisa Badaracco found out about the show when a friend of Moyer’s e-mailed her.

“I came because I’d never been to The House of Blues before, and I’ve wanted to see Foster Walker Complex,” she said.

Reach Jake Spring at [email protected].