LIGHTS, camera, action.

Thanks to MuchMusic, we had the opportunity to attend the Lights concert in Calgary at the MacEwan Ballroom on Thursday Nov. 12. Along with the tickets we were given the chance to meet her before the show to say hi, and get a photo and some autographs.

After waiting a week to hear about the meet and greet, we received a text message telling us to be at the venue in less than 30 minutes. Unfortunately, that time frame didn’t allow us to get there in time.

After texting the coordinator of the meet and greet a couple times, it was established that we would not be able to meet Lights, but could expect some personalized signed posters from Lights herself when we got there.

The line-up for the show went the entire length of the building. Amongst the crowd, many fashioned Lights’ signature style, complete with headbands and leggings. Two guys roaming around the line were sporting tin foil costumes and signs reading “Knights for Lights.”

The line started moving around 7 p.m. Before finding a spot in the audience, we searched for two elastic bands so that the signed posters wouldn’t get crumpled. Arriving at the merch table to try and find the elastics, we encountered Seventh Rain’s Rich MacFarlane, who was selling merch for the opening band Jets Overhead.

We had never before listened to Jets Overhead, but were pleasantly surprised by their melodic sounds; Antonia Freybe-Smith and Adam Kittredge had voices that blended well together. It was a nice change to see two girls on stage (Freybe-Smith and Jocelyn Greenwood) with their fellow male bandmates.

Lights’ name was projected onto the screen behind the stage to screams from the crowd, signalling the start of her set. She opened with The Listening, and continued with performances of many of the other tracks off her full-length album. The songs had a more high-energy vibe live than they do on the record.

Throughout the show, comic style cartoons were displayed behind the stage, depicting the story of her crash landing on a strange planet. In the story, her character, Captain Lights, needed to bring music back to the creatures of the planet. This unique storyline set her concert apart from other artists that we’ve seen.

Visit her website to check out her galactic ways at iamlights.com, and follow her on twitter @lightsnoise.