BY PELLE GUNTHER Lasers and Texans and tunes. Oh My! After the opener left the Troc stage Thursday night, the crowd hyped itself up so successfully, that the arrival of Ghostland Observatory’s water bottles brought enough foot stomping and shouting to make a football stadium blush. To even greater applause, the band stepped onto the stage, frontman Aaron Behrens clad in black, ball-crusher jeans, a black t-shirt and slick black shades to match; synth god Thomas Turner flaunting a vampire-esque cloak adorned with the Texas state flag. The band stood perfectly still. Blue lasers flooded the scene in a brilliant vibrating web of lights as a deep synth note pounded from the speakers, and the crowd nearly overdosed on excitement as they waited, with baited breath, for something, or anything to happen…then the beat dropped.
It was instantaneous. The Trocadero was suddenly turned into a sea of dancing bodies bathed in the lights of a myriad of multicolored, seizure-worthy lasers. The light show alone would have been a show well worth the $22 ticket. With 8 or more lasers actively blowing our minds at all times, while occasional strobe jerked through our senses, it was as much a visual experience as it was musical. But they didn’t disappoint musically either, they proceeded to play an amazing set full of songs like “Glitter” and “Miracles” from their new album Codename Rondo, in combo with the best of their oldies like “Vibrate” to “Stranger Lover” off the album Paparazzi Lightning. Their music, with all the grooviness of disco meets electro-funk, was infectious. It made you want to groove, dance, fist pound, grind or funky chicken your way through every song, and for the most part the crowd did. As my stamina drained away, I found myself cursing cigarettes, and wishing I’d spent more time awkwardly breaking it down at high school dances.
They left us to the loudest cheering and stomping I’ve ever experienced in the Trocadero. Of course this brought them back, Behrens first breaking out “Sad Sad City” to be followed by two more. Right before the last song Behrens approached the mic and told us this was our last chance to dance. While the crowd took him very seriously, it turned out he was wrong. After the final notes died along with the lasers and the house music came on, (killing what was most definitely a cheer for a second encore,) people would not stop dancing. Building circles, the dance enthusiasts continued their fun long after the band was gone. There really isn’t any other experience like this. Hailing from Austin Texas, Ghostland Observatory are a pair of indie electro-dance gods who lay down some serious funkiness around a laser show that will have you trippin’ balls regardless of your level of sobriety.