Images: Lights, From Indian Lakes August 18, 2015 at Vinyl Las Vegas

Canadian singer/songwriter/synthpop superstar, Lights, made her Vegas debut last week at Vinyl inside of the Hard Rock Hotel. Despite being on a Tuesday night, the Lights Army (the name given to her fan base) made a strong showing and piled into the venue hours before she took the stage.

Support was provided by indie rockers From Indian Lakes, who have been gaining traction and popularity steadily over the last couple of years. This was my first time hearing anything from the California indie group, and I could see why so many of my Facebook friends were stoked to go to this show just to see these five guys play.

As I photographed the first three songs, I could hear many people in the crowd behind me singing along to delicate tracks like “Ghost” and “Fog.” The band sounded great, imitating as much passion in their performance as the fans singing along to every word Joey Vannucchi sang, and I look forward to the next time they come to Vegas since I now know what to expect.

As the fog machine behind the stage filled the room with haze and the lights dimmed down, the anticipation started to build amongst the Lights Army. Cheers soon followed and grew louder as Lights and her band took the stage.

Lights was all smiles as she jumped into “Peace Signs,” and the fans looked just as happy to sing and dance along. The synth dance party continued on into her 2011 hit “Toes” and the crowd swayed back and forth as they sang “Got me on my toes” along with the singer. The hour and fifteen minute set saw a variety of other singles, from 2014’s Little Machines and 2011’s Siberia. Unless you’ve traveled out of state, no one in Vegas has had the opportunity to hear these songs live so I appreciated the variety.

And for those diehard fans like myself who have been following her since the 2009 MySpace days of The Listening, we were treated to two older singles “The Last Thing On Your Mind” and “Drive My Soul.” The main set wrapped up with “Up We Go” and was immediately met with the “one more song” chant as the group exited the stage.

After letting the anticipation build for a few moments, Lights came back up to play “Banner,” and thanked everyone for coming out and making her first Las Vegas appearance a great one. For me, I certainly hope this is the first of many Vegas shows for Lights.

-Tylor Thuirer | https://www.flickr.com/photos/thuirermedia/

Lights setlist:

Peace Sign
Toes
How We Do It
My Boots
Siberia
Running With the Boys
The Last Thing on Your Mind
Portal
Don’t Go Home Without Me
Drive My Soul
Muscle Memory
Speeding
Flux and Flow
Timing Is Everything
Same Sea
Up We Go

Encore:
Banner