An eclectic array of about 50 concertgoers came out to see Lights perform at Higher Ground on Jan. 24. 

Savoir Adore, a pop band, opened for Lights. The crowd was stone-still during their performance in anticipation of Lights.

Finally, the lights went out and Lights came on. 

Lights Poxleither, known simply as Lights, wore her signature destroyed rock and roll top, black skinny jeans and tall lace-up boots. 

She opened the show with “Banner,” the fourth track off of her new album, Siberia. 

“If you’re into softer stuff the first album is probably more your taste,” Lights said. “If you’re into more energetic electronic in a grittier way, you’re into Siberia.”

Siberia is dark and otherworldly; Lights said she was reading a lot of dark fantasy comics and listening to dubstep while making the record.

“You get influence from everywhere,” Lights said, “I’ve heard things in country songs that I thought were cool, and you just apply those to what you know makes your music great.”

Siberia features established artists Holy Fuck and Shad, and many of the songs on the album are co-written with songwriters such as Tawgs Salter, Jason Parsons, Brian Borcherdt, Graham Walsh and David Thomson.

With Lights’ strong gesture-like dance moves and an extravagant light show fitted to heavy electronic beats, the crowd was high energy and dancing by the third song, “Ice.”

“She sounds exactly how she sounds in her albums,” first-year Nick Gerber said. “It’s dubstep-y, but she makes it her own.”

Lights’ extensive fan base ranges from World of Warcraft gamers who belong to Lights’ guild, subscribers to the popular YouTube channel Epic Meal Time — where she was featured — and college boys who think she’s hot. 

Despite the motley crew, Lights said that everyone was there because they liked the music, not because there was a hit song out there that everyone was aware of.

“I make the music that I love,” Lights said. “My goal is that people gravitate toward it and like it.”

By the 11th song, Lights was offstage and dancing with the crowd.

She closed the show with “Toes,” but came back onstage for an encore after the crowd cheered for several minutes. She played “Cactus in the Valley,” which is the only song on Siberia that is entirely her own. 

Lights thanked the crowd for coming out to see her and her band, and praised Vermont for its food. 

“This town is the best — there’s a cheese store next door,” Lights said to the audience. “I got a block of spicy jalapeno.”