Even before Tom Van Buskirk proclaimed Javelin’s love for Portland during the end of their set at Mississippi Studios last week, I felt the band might have a special reverence for the city. Maybe it was the fact that Van Buskirk mentioned in our interview that his house looked more like the houses “you might see in Portland” or that he realized was living a small town existence in a more metropolitan area—there’s certainly more than a few of us doing that here. Still, I think it’s the fact that Portland really just loves Javelin. As the George Langford and Van Buskirk approached the stage for their first ever show at Mississippi Studios, the crowd already had pockets of eager dancers pushing up towards the front.

Backed by a giant figure of assembled boom box faceplates, Langford and Van Buskirk began the show with selections off their earlier albums. “On It On It” from 2010′s No Más made the room pop, with glittering electronic percussion and Van Buskirk’s airy vocals floating into the rafters. From the back of the room to the front of the stage, the crowd was an undulating mass of flowing sundresses and bobbing snap-backs. By the time Hi Beams’ “Light Out” came on, no one seemed to be just a passive observer. I can only imagine what kind of effect the boom boxes would have had if they were plugged in, pumping out the group’s country-touring synth and dance rhythms.

“I forgot what song is next,” said Van Buskirk midway through the set, “so I’m just going to hit the button and see what happens.” Soon the opening notes from “Drummachines” echoed around the room to applause from the crowd. “Drummachines”, a bouncy love song off of Hi Beams, had Van Buskirk playing bass, one of the challenging additions the singer incorporated into the live performance for their new record. But there was no noticeable struggle. Van Buskirk held his own, alongside Langford who played an emphatic live snare, cymbal and electronic trigger module.

After the slower tempo of “Drummachines”, the crowd cooled.  The duo soon slipped into a smooth instrumental track and invited an audience member to sing over it. “Thank you Javelin for coming to Portland!” an ecstatic girl yelled as soon as she was handed the mic. She may not have been on key, but no one cared. She happily danced and sang while the Van Buskirk and Langford kept a steady groove.

Javelin closed out their set with crowd favorite “Vibrationz”, followed by an encore of “The Stars”, but not before Van Buskirk high-fived the entire front row. “Portland is the greatest city in the Northwest, hands down, no question.”