Chicago – Lights and co-headliners The Mowgli’s performed for a packed House of Blues, having sold out the downtown venue. While fans, young and old, excitedly waited for the show to begin, I found myself questioning if I should be there, knowing just blocks away Chicago youth were protesting the murder cover-up of Laquan McDonald, who was shot by a police officer sixteen times. I told myself, “It’s okay, I’m working,” but as a born and raised Chicagoan, the guilt kept creeping up, knotting my stomach. A little relief came as I watched three young girls dance and sing their hearts out to The Mowgli’s music, reminding me how magical music can be. Then Lights reminded me that music can also help heal broken hearts.

Throughout the night Canadian electro-pop artist Valerie Anne Poxleitner-Bokan, aka Lights, spoke to her fans, getting personal and having heart-to hearts with the audience. At one point, Lights spoke about what she came to find the point of life: celebrating the good and living life to the fullest. We have to take the good with the bad, but we can’t let the bad destroy us. She told the packed room not to forget to enjoy life and to be thankful for what you have. For Chicagoans, it was a reminder that we cannot allow the violence, corruption, and death plaguing our beautiful city to burn out our light.

Lights lit up the House of Blues with her music, bubbling personality, and amazing light show. She had the crowd going crazy. Fans sang along, while recording with their cell phones. Grown men could be seen singing along and dancing their hearts out to songs like “Toes,” off Siberia, and “Same Sea,” from 2014’s Little Machines (Warner Bros. Records). Arms pumped frantically, like what you’d see at an EDM show. Lights ran around stage, letting fans sing into her microphone, and jumped up and down, folding down onto the hardwood like a yogi, and all the while a rainbow of lights glowed behind her. Throughout the night she jumped off the stage and climbed the barricade, singing into the audience.

However, there were plenty of slow numbers, which calmed the crowd. Halfway through her set, Lights sat on a stool, with her acoustic guitar, soulfully belting out heartfelt numbers, including “Running With The Boys” and “Up We Go,” like a seasoned folk singer.

Lights also performed the oldie “Pretend (Reprise)” from her debut album The Listening. She softly spoke into her mic and said, “We’ve never done this one as a band, so if we mess it up…” then giggled and noted, “This is a throwback.” Joy seemed to spread throughout the ground floor once people realized which oldie it was. Fans swayed back and forth. Smiles spread. People mouthed the lyrics, keeping silent so as not to disrupt the beautiful number. All that was missing: a sea of lighters or brightly lit cellphones waving back and forth, illuminating the room. Oh well. Next time Lights fans, next time!