Neon Trees Light Up The Boston House of Blues

Adam Reynoso ’15 / Emertainment Monthly Staff Writer

After performing with a white sheet hanging in front of the stage and playing what sounded like the beginning of “Where is my Mind?” the band came out and jumped right into “Lessons in Love (All Day, All Night).” From there, the band played through an almost two hour set of their newer and older hits, Neon Trees rocked the theatrical stage and put on an elaborate, memorable show.

With two strong openers, Smallpools and Nighmare & the Cat, Neon Trees transformed the stage between sets, setting up panels at the back of the stage lighting up throughout the show and adding platforms to add to the stage. Once the stage was revealed, the audience cheered as lead singer  Tyler Glenn came down the stairs, in a pink suit draped in a large, green overcoat. As they played their first song, he eventually spun the coat off and continued rocking the stage.

The atmosphere of the show was fun and eclectic. The band was full of energy, as well as theatrics. With each song, Glenn gave it his all. He danced around and liked doing the classic rocker act of leaning forward when singing into the microphone. The band really had a strong presence on the stage. At one point, Glenn walked off the stage and crowd surfed, all while singing. And the way he worked the stage really was one of the highlights, especially while rocking with blue light lit up microphone stand.

But aside from their performance, the band connected with the audience. As it’s been made known recently, Glenn recently came out as gay. He admitted this again to the audience and talked about what that meant to him and how he was a stronger person now. He said all of this as a prelude to “Voices in the Halls.” It was a step back from the fast paced set they’d been playing and slowed things down in a good way. It was a touching and heartfelt song that really meant something to Glenn.

Another surprise was the two covers they performed. The first was “Don’t You Want Me,” a cover The Human League’s single. It was definitely a welcome surprise and fun addition to the set. It was definitely a song the crowd could get behind and really dance to. The second cover was at the beginning of their encore and was The Pixies‘ “Where is my Mind?” It was an excellent beginning to their final set and once they took the stage again, they also brought out blow-up, rainbow brain. It was a their own version of the song and it was just as great as the original.

Aside from those, the band also played “Love in the 21st Century,” “Animal,” “Text Me in the Morning,” “Sleeping With a Friend” and “Everybody Talks.” During most of their songs, the fans were singing along and cheering on the band. With the colored lights and the amazing stage, it was a show that had a lot going on. It was a fun experience and well worth checking out should the band return.