As the curtains rose to reveal the opening act at House of Blues last night, a strange band took the stage.
The audience, anxiously awaiting the arrival of hip-hop artist Drake, didn’t know quite what to think when four white pop-rockers — with wild hair, black leather jackets, tight black pants, and sunglasses — walked on.
These four out-of-place dudes (although not completely — they produced a track on Drake’s upcoming album, so there's your connection) are Francis and the Lights, and the while the environment wasn’t exactly conducive to a rock performance, I was surprised to find that their music was so excellent.
After thoroughly enjoying their short 40-minute set last night, I wanted to hear more.
Having perused YouTube for quite some time this morning (all in the name of, um, work), I came away even more impressed.
Hailing from New York, the Lights’ music is smooth and laidback, but in a good way, invoking '80s pop mixed with funky new-age synths.
Francis, the singer, has a captivating voice — a mixture of Kings of Leon's Caleb Followil and Maroon 5's Adam Levine, especially the way he hits high notes.
Check out their video “Darling, It’s Alright” above and be sure to watch until the end, when Francis busts out his extremely weird but amazing dance moves.
They alone make the band totally awesome. —Jordan Zirm
