The Boston House of Blues was packed with a sold out crowd on Friday night. It was a mixed crowd of late twenty somethings to early tweens with their parents — a surprising gap in demographic for an Owl City show. Nonetheless the floor in front of the stage was packed with bodies and onlookers peered over the side railings of the second and third floors.

The night kicked off promptly at 6:55 with Paper Route. The quintet from Nashville had an As Tall As Lions and just slightly peppier Death Cab For Cutie sound that made them a bit of a surprising opener for the ultimate of peppy headliner. From a distance, the lead singer had a striking resemblance to Brand New’s Jesse Lacey, which was only encouraged by his intense mope-stare to the crowd. Their synthesized groove sound was just the ticket to get the crowd going — at one point they had three drummers on stage for an incredible build up. I’m not entirely sure Owl City was the best fit for them but they were extremely impressive and hey, being first up on a sold out tour can’t hurt, right? Definitely keep your eyes, and ears, out for them soon.

Next in the lineup came Toronto’s newest shining star — Lights. When Blast last talked to her, Lights was fresh in the rush of releasing her second album "The Listening". Now she’s making a crowd pleaser out of songs like "Lions!" and wooing the audience with soft ballads like "Pretend." Though her set is decorated with two synthesized pianos and keytar, Lights’s voice is really the showstopper. When she steps on stage she looks pint sized in jeans, white tank top and leather jacket, but she opens her mouth and that out of this world soprano range really elevates the set. It’s adorable to see her bouncing around the stage, getting the entire crowd to fist pump with her, but I think a phenomenal show is in the works when Lights gets to officially call the shots.

At nine o’clock the main event began. It started with the lights, three "waves" lit up with blues and greens to resemble the ocean. The drums next, then a mini orchestra — two violins and a cello — then glockenspiel and finally Adam Young, Owl City himself, as the crowd erupts. It was the same visceral reaction to every song, which made it strange to think that Owl City was a relatively unknown until last summer when "Fireflies" became so massive, even Nick Jonas covered it. "Fireflies" came in the middle of the set though, to obviously the most applause. When the band departed the stage for their encore, I wondered if they’d come back and just do the song again, you always end with your biggest hit right? It was an excellent surprise to hear the first digital beats of "Hello, Seattle," — his biggest pre-"Fireflies" song. The crowd didn’t disappoint either, showing they knew every word to his songs even before "Ocean Eyes" came out last July.

At first glance, Lights, looks like an indie princess fantasy for scenesters in skinny jeans and torn chucks everywhere. Talk to her for just a few seconds though and you’ll realize that no matter how darling she looks, Lights can throw down with the biggest of sci-fi and fantasy nerds and that she’s proud of it.

Lights dropped her newest full length CD “The Listening” in early October and chatted to Blast from her hometown of Toronto shortly after the release to tell us how the CD came about, how she became her own super hero and why it’s cool to be a sci-fi geek.

“A couple days before the record came out in the states we hit the road to tour on the record so its been going, going, going, but it’s awesome. For the first time I get to tour on my own record. People are coming to the shows and singing along,”said Lights about life since “The Listening” came out.

The title of the album came from Lights’s own self-reflection when writing the songs and learning a lot about herself.

“The title generated from track four called “The Listening” but it went a little deeper than that. The whole record spawned from me kind of having to analyze emotional situations where I was just feeling really low and had to pull myself out with music,” said Lights. “Through that process I learned a lot about myself. All these songs, through all this music, I’ve learned so much more about myself. I thought this is a direct result of that, listening to music. That’s why I took the mouth off of me on the album cover, to help drive that home. It feels appropriate.”

Lights will spend most of the rest of the year on the road promoting the album like musicians do, but she’s also got a little something special up her sleeve. A long time fan of fantasy and comic books Lights teamed up with Marvel writer Tim Coker to create The Captain Lights Adventure.

“The Captain Lights Adventure which [is like] a glorified comic book with my music in the background. It’s going to be playing on MTV in the morning in America and you can see it on the website as well,” explained Lights.

Comics aren’t the only way Lights lets her inner-nerd out. She’s also a WoW (World of Warcraft) veteran. She says no matter how busy she is, she always makes time for WoW the fantasy role-playing video game that has become an ever growing cult sensation among computer gamers – even Brand New’s Jesse Lacey has admitted to being a fan. Lights said she too is a huge fan of the game.

“It was totally something I just wanted to get into. And actually when I started playing, one or two years ago, I didn’t know anyone that played and I was such a lover of fantasy stuff, comic books and all of that I thought I’d have a good time with it and I love it. Every day I always make a little time for it.” Lights said.

Fantasy has always appealed to Lights, simply for what it represents to her. It’s a place to escape, which she explains on in her bio became essential to her during her childhood when her family was constantly moving around. Now fantasy worlds and comic book agendas help Lights channel her out of this world energy.

“Music for starters is something I totally love, it’s my passion, but the same with sci-fi and comics. These are all things that I love so why not implement all these things into it? It’s an absolute reflection of my personality and what I’m into. Its the idea that the reason I love fantasy and all that stuff is the notion of unlimited creativity and aliens and far off worlds and crazy powers and make it all real. It’s all stuff you can invent and the same goes for my music. If I hear a sound in my head then I’ll find a way to make it into the recording. There’s no limits or bounds for what I want. In that sense it all goes together,” explained Lights.

Lights, who changed her legal name to Lights from Valerie Poxleitner, uses her intergalactic notions to help her reach the artistic goal she set for herself when she started playing music, and holding on to that has kept her steady in an industry that’s isn’t known for playing nice.

“People will try to get to you and they are going to hate. In order to keep track of who I really am I set this one goal to always hold on to and that’s to reach as many people as I can in a positive way,” said Lights. “So anything that I do to make you happy or entertain you for a few minutes or just make you think about things – just something positive, that’s my goal.”

“The Listening” is available in all major music retailers now.

Hey everyone! Happy Diwali! Even if you aren’t Hindu, take a second to light a candle, a diya (a small earthenware candle), or if you’re really ambitious, a firecracker.

Diwali’s roots vary throughout India. As one traverses India’s gorgeous landscape, one can uncover a plethora of different mythological tales to explain Diwali’s origins.

Many see it as a day to celebrate Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth, by adorning her alter at the temple with money or pictures of material goods. Some gamble on Diwali too, because, as the legend goes, the goddess Parvati played dice with her husband on Diwali and declared anyone who gambled on the same day would fair extremely well.

The most popular tale

The most widely told Diwali tale goes like this:

Prince Rama was chosen by his father to become the new king of Ayodhya. The Queen Kaikeyi however, though initially ecstatic, is poisoned by her servant and begins to fear for the future of Rama’s brother, Bharata. The servant leads her to beleive Rama will do terrible things to Bharata to keep power in the kingdom. Because Kaikeyi saved her husband’s life earlier, the king promises to comply with her wish that he banish Rama from Ayodhya.

Rama obeys and, along with his wife Sita, descends into the dark, gloomy and ominous forest. While there his‚ wife is kidnapped by the demon Ravan, the ten-armed, ten-headed king from Sri Lanka. Rama, devastated and depressed, sets out on a mission to find his lost wife. When he eventually does, after conquering several emotional and physical obstacles over the course of years, he kills Ravan and retrieves his wife. Rama and Sita then journey back towards Ayodhya.

As the two near their kingdom, it is pitch black out. No moon and, of course, no street lights. Villagers hear of their approach and, to help them find their way, light candles outside their homes so they could safely find their way home.

When the two finally find their way back, with the help of kind villagers, Rama is crowned as king.

And thus began the celebration of Diwali; the festival of lights.

I’m off to celebrate. Happy Diwali!

Boys Like Girls will be releasing a new DVD, Read Between The Lines on November 4. It’s over 100 minutes long with 10 live performances, and it tells the band’s story from their very beginning through headlining their hometown on the recent Soundtrack of Your Summer Tour. There are also interviews with all the members and behind-the-scenes antics.

They’re doing a northeast loop tour that began in Northampton, Mass, is headed down to North Carolina now, and will end in Boston October 13 at a show at Northeastern University.

They are touring with Cute is What We Aim For and Lights.

Tour dates

10/3: Northampton, Mass., Smith College

10/4: Hempstead, N.Y., Hofstra University

10/5: Morgantown, W.V., University of West Virginia

10/8: Greensboro, N.C., UNC-Greensboro

10/10: Millersville, Penn., Millersville University

10/11: Pittsburgh, Penn., Gravity

10/12: Rochester, N.Y., Rochester Institute of Technology

10/13: Boston, Mass., Northeastern University