What is it with the Swedish bands hiding their identity?  The Knife always covered their faces, jj hid who they were for the first year or so and now Miike Snow take the stage with their faces hidden behind white masks.  I’m not complaining, because all three bands make great music, I just find it interesting.

The Miike Snow show was originally scheduled for The Bluebird and I wasn’t sure if I was going to attend.  Just so many shows lately and I really didn’t know if I would like them live.  My friend turned me on to their self-titled debut album last year and I really liked it, but just wasn’t sure this electropop stuff was something I would enjoy live.  But then I had a friend coming to town, a friend who is very into the Burning Man culture and I figure this show would be something he’d be into…especially with Barcelona’s Delorean opening up.

Well, my Burntown Crew friend did not make it due to illness, so I ended up taking my wife.  We went with a couple other friends, one of whom I was SURE would not like this show.  That was just one of many things I was wrong about that night.

Delorean opened the night with a great set.  After listening to their Ayrton Senna EP, with the glitter girl floating on the cover, I was expecting more Macbooks onstage than actual instruments.  This was not the case; the full band rocked and danced their way through those songs as well as songs from their upcoming full-length, Subiza .  These guys are definately Spanish, but they sound more like the French band, Phoenix than they do like Ibiza influenced electronica.

The fog machine was on full blast for at least 15 minutes before the masked headliners took the stage.  All you could see were black silhouettes against the purple lighting for the instrumental entrance.  Once the white lights blasted through the fog, we saw Miike Snow as men in black with full face masks, with the exception of Andrew Wyatt, whose mask had a opening for his bearded mouth and chin.

The band ripped through most songs from their album, including the popular Animal, Sylvia and Black & Blue.  Sometime during the set the masks did come off, but by that point it was hardly even noticeable because everyone was dancing and singing along with the music.  I have to say, for such a new band, these guys know how to rock a crowd.

It seemed it was all over before I knew it.  But I guess that’s a sign of a good show.  I have to say I had more fun than I’ve had in a long time.  And I do think moving it to the Ogden was a good call…these guys  know how to take advantage of a larger stage.