Show Review: Lights @ Corona Theater 24-11-11

Review by Lili-Anh

On November 24th, a mix of indie, electro-pop and rock greeted a more than excited crowd at the Corona Theater. It all started off with a rather interesting opener; Rich Aucoin, a very energetic performer whose set was very visually enhanced by an ongoing video projected over the stage and who also seemed very fond of confetti. He also hit everyone’s nostalgia when he took out a big colorful parachute kids love to play with. Next up was Nightbox, an upbeat band that kept the ball rolling following Rich Aucoin’s hype.

At 10pm sharp, Lights finally hit the stage with Banner, a song off her latest album Siberia, to the sound of her screaming fans. She quickly followed with two classics; Second Go, that involved quite a light show, no pun intended, and Ice. She then took out her guitar for Boots and then River, to which all the fans sang along to. Towards the end of River, the band’s sound was lowered and we were able to hear the strength of Lights’ voice resonate throughout the venue with the fans echoing her lyrics. I’m always amazed at how good she sounds live; she has such a powerful voice.

She followed with two new songs; Flux and Bones then Everyone Breaks a Glass. Between them, I realized how many guys were present at the show. Usually, we’re used to hearing girls screaming at concerts, some high-pitched “I love you”s but yesterday, I heard quite a few low-pitched ones. Just goes to show her music reaches out to a lot of people; the crowd was actually quite varied, from younger fans to older ones, all with different styles. She then toned it down to sit at her piano for And Counting, which once again showed her powerful voice. Montreal fans awed her and she had tears in her eyes at the end of the song.

Right before her banner came down, she performed Quiet and then got the crowd super pumped for the title track of her latest album. Last Thing on Your Mind was next and seemed to be quite the fan favorite, judging by their screams after the first couple of notes of the intro. She followed with Suspension and Where the Fence Is Low, after an inspirational speech about dreams. She finished off her set with Savior and Toes.

Following the Montreal tradition, fans started screaming “Ole ole ole oleee!” and when she came back for her encore, she asked what it was, which prompted everyone to sing it again, and she said it was a cool song. She sang Cactus in a Valley that really brought out the softness of her voice and finished off the night with Lions, after saying “We’re almost done tour and we feel more alive than ever and it’s all thanks to you guys!”.