Last night I took a trip to the dark side—I visited the glittery shadows of loud, pumping synth and bass, bright flashing lights, and an unimaginably Sirenesque blend of sensual female vocals. Hundreds of bodies swayed as one, packed densely in a tight, sweaty mass of movement to the mysteriously seductive thumping beats.

I amongst many others was one of these entranced voyeurs in attendance of Ladytron’s Chicago stop of their U.S. tour at the Vic last evening. While both 04’s Light and Magic and 05’s Witching Hour have graced my cd wallet history, I didn’t realize Ladytron was back on the scene with their recent release of Velocifero until about a month or so back when a girlfriend mentioned this show. I did a little homework and discovered the anticipated release of Ladytron’s first follow up in three years was actually quite good. I dug Witching Hour back in my days of college radio to give the record its fair amount of airplay back in 05, but I’d be lying if I said it got a lot of attention in my regular music rotation since then. But Velocifero definitely brought this troupe’s slinky, and so very smooth sounds of electronic goodness back to the forefront of my dance party mania.

But while the record’s good, it does no justice to the actual performance itself. Velocifero is the sexual fantasy to the live eroticism of the real deal. The crowd was packed to the nines and for a moment I thought I was at the wrong show, judging from members of the oddly diverse crowd. There were Spencer Pratt bro look alikes, hippie girls, young high school kids, and maybe a handful of the ultra cool goth girls I had envisioned making up the crowd. I definitely smelled a waft of marijuana more than once, attempting to mask the aromas of sweat and alcohol. Images and stereotypes aside, the energetic crowd masked as one as we all moved to the international language of dance.

Ladytron started things up with Velocifero’s opening track, the ghostly foreign “Black Cat.” As soon as the repetitive drumbeat took hold, I was lost in a trance as the mesmerizing crazy light show possessed the venue, flaring off gold sparkles, silver strobes, neon blue eddies and fire red swirls of fluorescence. And lots and lots of bass. And keys. And sexy girl vocals.

Following numbers included several tracks from Velocifero such as “Runaway,” “I’m Not Scared,” my personal fave “Ghosts,” “Seasons of Illusions,” “Predict the Day,” “Burning Up” and “Deep Blue.” I did recognize a few older tracks as well including Light and Magic’s “Seventeen.” Forgive me for not having a complete or sequential track list, I floated away here and there, kind of amazed that the sound quality of so many layers could sound so not only comparable, but actually better to the original masterwork.

I know I sound like a blathering super fan, but these pop rockers were just that good live—they sold me from my neutral kinda sorta fan status and converted me into a total Ladytron pusher. And for this I am glad, def check this noise live next time they play a stage near you.

MoB: 5 Questions with Ladytron

Myspace: Ladytron