The Pretty LIGHTS Amidst The Pretty Lights Lights Up The El Rey

Rock 'N Roll has always been illuminated by illusion that sometimes paints a pretty smiley face on delusion. Whether real or lubricated by grandeur, there now exists an inter-planetary cushion that has softened the distinction. Say hello to my little friend, the precipice of allusion.

Whereas there was, is and will always be one illusionary being forever known as Pink Floyd, there now exists a wave of identity opaqueness. Yes, Pink Floyd did signify the dawn of allusion and perhaps a prism to refract the current wave of sensory stimulation represented by the milieu of music meets mindful manipulation meets malleable minds.

But rather than steadfast illusions, artists are defining themselves by shades of color embodied by the use of phrases augmented by adjectives ameliorated by acronyms. And through it all, strings of words and strings of letters meant to signify strings of words are hanging by a heavy rope on the God forsaken precipice of one big hot mess.

So, when I say "Pretty Lights," am I referring to Derek Vincent Smith, the ground-breaking electronic music artist that goes by the moniker Pretty Lights and has a record label called Pretty Lights Music or am I referring to the attractive 24-year old Valerie Anne Poxleitner, a ground-breaking electronic music artist whom goes by Lights and has a record label called Lights Music?!?!

Let's not even contemplate what kind of nomenclature might be devised if these two sets of brightly lit Lights were to get married, whether literally or figuratively. Cue Deborah ("Debby") Anne Boone "You Light Up My Life" (Vincent & Valerie's Late Nite Ice Mix).

A litany of Back-rubs and Re-rubs could ensue
But which one's Pink?

At the El Rey Theatre in LA on Monday night, the pretty Lights sang, the pretty lights flashed, the pretty Lights sashayed and the pretty people swayed.

It was pretty passionate. It was pretty panache. It was pretty reckless.

But don't get me started on how The Pretty Reckless might fit into this Pretty Lights, pretty Lights ménage à trois. Valerie meet Taylor...

The Pretty Pretty Lights Lights.
Double your pleasure, triple your fun.
Sounds pretty reckless.

But which one's Pretty In Pink?

I've seen Lights a few times over the last few years and the ebullient joy that emanates from both the stage and given back by the exuberant crowds is more akin to a Sunday morning gospel revue...though one with a self-professed Doodle Jump video game nerd as the congregation's tattooed Saviour.



And quite impressive is this particular alpha Siberian savior's ability to sing, shimmy, sidestep, dubstep and play the synth all in one fluid motion amidst a swirling cavalcade of pulsting beats under the glow of a cascade of pretty lights.

Flowery prose aside, you can tell Valerie takes her art and the meticulous visualization of her craft very seriously.

She also takes her well-coifed hairdo very seriously as she continually (and effortlessly) flipped her hair to picture perfect placement over and over again.

And while I appreciate the attention to every single detail presented in every single glorified moment, when she truly let her inhibitions go during the "I'm off on my rope here. I'm off on my own here" outro chorus of "Where The Fence Is Low," I was impressed the most.

She courageously went for "it" and the fanatical crowd responded in kind.

Towards the end of her 75-minute set, a shower of chanting adulation, from an audience wielding pretty light sabers, went from "Encore, encore, encore" to "We want Lights, WE WANT LIGHTS".

Thankfully, the front-of-house engineer did not actually heed their cattle call and and give us actual "lights" thereby inducing a sweaty herd of tetrissed tigers and tigresses. These hungry Siberian saber cats were propulsive in pushing for more of the pretty lights imbuing the equally pretty Lights.

She responded with a roaring version of "Lions!" a song from her debut album The Listening which, musically, reminds me of the classic atmospheric soundscapes generated on U2's The Joshua Tree, and then a solo acoustic reading of fan-favorite "Cactus In The Valley".

Stripped bare of the beats and the pretty lights, it was pure.
It was pretty.
It was LIGHTS.

LIGHTS
EL REY THEATRE
LOS ANGELES, CA
NOV 7, 2011
1. Banner
2. Second Go
3. Ice
4. My Boots
5. River
6. Flux and Flow
7. Everybody Breaks A Glass
8. Heavy Rope (Acoustic)
9. Face Up
10. Siberia
11. The Last Thing On Your Mind
12. Suspension
13. Where The Fence Is Low
14. Saviour
15. Toes
ENCORE:
16. Lions!
17. Cactus In The Valley (Acoustic)

LIGHTS
Tour Dates
10/18/11 Cambridge, MA - Middle East
10/19/11 New York, NY - Gramercy Theatre
10/21/11 Philadelphia, PA - TLA
10/22/11 Baltimore, MD - Sonar
10/24/11 Pontiac, MI - The Eagle Theater
10/25/11 Chicago, IL - Bottom Lounge
10/26/11 Milwaukee, WI - Turner Hall Ballroom
10/28/11 Minneapolis, MN - Triple Rock
10/29/11 St. Louis, MO - Cicero’s
10/30/11 Lawrence, KS - Jackpot Music Hall
11/01/11 Denver, CO - Marquis Theatre
11/02/11 Salt Lake City, UT - The Complex
11/04/11 San Diego, CA - Soma
11/05/11 Mesa, AZ - Nile Theatre
11/07/11 Los Angeles, CA - El Rey Theatre
11/08/11 San Francisco, CA - Great American Music Hall
11/09/11 Portland, OR - Hawthorne Theatre
11/10/11 Seattle, WA - El Corazon
11/12/11 Victoria, British Columbia - 9 One 9
11/13/11 Kelowna, British Columbia - Kelowna Community Theatre
11/15/11 Vancouver, British Columbia - Vogue Theatre
11/17/11 Edmonton, Alberta - Edmonton Event Centre
11/18/11 Calgary, Alberta - MacEwan Hall
11/19/11 Saskatoon, Saskatchewan - Odeon Events Centre
11/20/11 Winnipeg, Manitoba - Burton Cumings Theatre
11/23/11 Ottawa, Ontario - Bronson Centre
11/24/11 Montreal, Quebec - Corona Theatre
11/25/11 Toronto, Ontario - Sound Academy
01/17/12 Quebec City, Quebec - Le Cercle
01/19/12 Fredericton, New Brunswick - The Market
01/20/12 Halifax, Nova Scotia - Rebecca Cohn Auditorium
01/21/12 Moncton, New Brunswick - The Capitol Theatre

(Thank you: Ashley @ Jian Ghomeshi Productions, Joan @ William Morris Endeavor, photographer Melissa Libertelli & James Zahn @ Kik Axe Music)