Owl City and LIGHTS review

Time was, I went to a lot of concerts. Working in radio, print and music retail afforded me ample opportunities to see shows. Over the years though, my interest waned. These days, it’s rare that a group excites me much these days. 2009, however, brought two very exciting acts.

Both groups are at once very similar, and yet starkly different. Appealing to my love of ‘80s era synth-pop, Owl City and LIGHTS make music that is reminiscent of that decade. The tunes are not only energetic, but listenable and catchy as well. Much of latter day electronic music lacks the latter two attributes.

Owl City’s solo member, Adam Young, grew up in a rural Minnesota town, and had scarcely ventured beyond the land of 10,000 lakes until a he started making music. LIGHTS, whose real name is Valerie Anne Poxleitner, was born and raised in Canada. Her parents, who were missionaries, took her all over the world. Both picked up a guitar around the age of 11, and began writing songs. Both switched to electronics to fully realize their musical visions. The two also love the baby Jesus, though they are not Christian rockers. LIGHTS is bubbly and instantly engaging. Young seems shyer, and still seems to be adjusting to all of his new-found adoration.

The two groups, along with a band called Deas Vail, played here in Cincinnati this past Wednesday. What an incredible show! Deas Vail started the evening with their brand of rootsy Midwestern rock, and the crowd was quite responsive. After the show, they managed to sell quite a few CDs to the exiting crowd, while shaking hands and autographing their wares. A nice bunch of young people.

LIGHTS took the stage next. Slinging her “key-tar” for most of her set she favored the crowd with songs from her debut CD The Listening. Assisted by another keyboardist as well as a live drummer, the Toronto native kept the crowd bopping with her songs “Saviour,” “February Air,” “Lions!” and “River.” She too hung out after the show, meeting fans and signing merchandise. A lovely young woman who hopefully will start to get the recognition she deserves.

Owl City hit the stage right at nine o’clock. Those who had seen live clips of the group on YouTube were in for a pleasant surprise. Instead of Adam Young, one partner and several computers doing the work, a full live band strolled on stage. First out were two young women, one playing the violin, the other playing the cello. The backing band was rounded out by a live drummer, two keyboardists and of course Young.

With just the strings playing, most of the audience recognized the song “Umbrella Beach.” After a few bars, the rest of the band kicked in and Owl City exploded through their one hour set. Though Young admittedly doesn’t know OMD from ODB, he figured out what many synth pioneers figured out years ago. Groups like Thompson Twins and Heaven 17 learned early in their careers that having a live band on stage was far more interesting than a bunch of people poking away at keyboards while one band member sings. Indeed, Young even broke out an electric guitar for several tunes.

“Fireflies,” of course, got the biggest response and had the crowd singing along at the top of their lungs. However, the crowd sang along to several other songs as well. This made me wonder. The sponsoring radio station, top 40 Q-102, has yet to play another song from the current album Ocean Eyes. Or anything by LIGHTS. It seems unlikely the crowd reaction will change their minds. Why lead when you can follow?

Tin-eared radio programmers aside, and in spite of the travesty of them not being nominated for a Grammy, it’s been a very promising beginning for both artists. We’ve seen this before, though. A group rockets out of the gate with a great debut, only to fall to Earth a few months later. I’d be a little heartbroken if that happened to either LIGHST or Owl City.