(Photo courtesy of KJ Mark)Canadian electronic songstress LIGHTS brought her energetic show to the Nile Theater in Mesa on Halloween night with special guest Arkells.
Fellow Canadian rock band Arkells opened the show with all of its members dressed similarly to LIGHTS, drawing laughter from the subdued crowd, many of whom were in costume. Arkells’s infectious pop-rock style quickly got the audience dancing as it played through a 40-minute set, closing with a Hall and Oates cover of “You Make My Dreams Come True.”
With only two bands on the bill for the show, LIGHTS wasted no time in making her entrance to the nearly sold-out theater. Opening with a synchronized light show, LIGHTS and her band launched right into the massively energetic set. Each member was in costume, with LIGHTS emerging from backstage in a skeleton morph suit to greet the screams of the crowd.
The set combined the unique electronic element of LIGHTS’s music with a very rock-based backing, provided by three other members of her band. It had been almost exactly one year since the group had played at the Nile Theater, and LIGHTS sounded even better than the previous show. Backed by a frenetic light show, her vocals soared with the uplifting tone of each of the songs the band played.
Highlights of the night included watching the colorfully dressed crowd raise its hands when LIGHTS played “Peace Sign” off of her most recent album, “Siberia.” Songs like “Flux and Flow,” “Timing is Everything” and “Toes” kept the crowd moving and singing along. LIGHTS even decided to slow the set down to play a piano rendition of “Saviour” from her previous album, “The Listening.”
Throughout the night, LIGHTS spoke to the audience, smiling and clearly excited to be playing the concert on Halloween. Midway through the set, she conducted a costume contest and gave away a T-shirt to a couple in complementing Star Wars costumes.
After leaving the stage, the pumped crowd called for an encore to which LIGHTS happily obliged, playing “Banner” to close out the incredible show. The audience was clearly thrilled with the concert, as the costumed masses exited the venue to meet LIGHTS at her tour bus to end the unique Halloween experience.
Reach the reporter at okhiel@asu.edu
