Psychedelic sound emanates from the historic Music Box

In the heart of Hollywood, steps away from the Walk of Fame, lies the historic Music Box. On Friday night, a crowd of diverse and eager listeners lined the Walk of Fame for a chance to hear the mind-bending sounds of Miniature Tigers, Prefuse 73 and Neon Indian, who performed at the venue.

The Music Box, constructed in the ’20s, is a paradoxically vast but intimate building containing an opulent ballroom with a broad dance floor flanked on both sides by colonnades of booths.  In front of the dance floor stands the stage, masked by archaic curtains and contained within a garishly gold frame. At 9 p.m., the heavy drapes rose to reveal the first band, Miniature Tigers.

Miniature Tigers had an interesting group dynamic: The lead singer flowed with energy, the bassist gently rocked from side to side with his eyes closed, the drummer — wearing a peculiar Christmas sweater — was frenetic, and the keyboardist seemed lost in the background.

At first, it seemed like there was no uniformity within the group, but as the set got rolling, the band started to flow like a more cohesive unit. The band exhibited true musicianship when the drummer, bassist and keyboardist successfully swapped instruments with each other — multiple times.

Miniature Tigers kept the set exciting as members utilized sporadic tempo and dynamic shifts. The lead singer and drummer furiously thrashed their instruments, while the bassist plucked his strings in a mellow fashion. From the keyboard and soundboard emanated a mesh of pulverizing bass and Polynesian-like chords that the crowd seemed to enjoy as the set came to a close.

Next up was the musician/producer Prefuse 73, who surprised the audience with two DJs and dual drummers. Prefuse 73 stood center stage amid his equipment and commenced his set with an extraterrestrial prelude that would foreshadow the strangeness of his performance.

As Prefuse 73 got going, a juxtaposition of vocal and 808 drum screams resonated throughout the ballroom. At first the dual drummers were an innovative concept, but the repetitive and rudimentary drumbeats soon became monotonous. Between electronic jam sessions, Prefuse 73 put on galactic interludes that left the audience dazed and confused rather than interested.

The highlight of Prefuse 73’s set was a concoction of what an alien harmonica or accordion might sound like. The grimy, bass thumping coaxed the crowd to move and swing to the beat.

Eventually, the headliner, Neon Indian, took the stage. As the curtains were drawn back one final time, the four musicians greeted the fans with humble appreciation.

Behind the band, on the back wall of the stage were projections of trippy, psychedelic images. The pictures, in conjunction with a strobe and a rainbow-colored light show, mimicked what an acid trip might be like — and appropriately so, Neon Indian’s set included one of its most popular hits, “Should Have Taken Acid With You.”

While the screen propelled vibrant images, Neon Indian was just beginning its string of surprises. Front man Alan Palomo, showed off his theremin, an electronic instrument that oscillates frequency and volume. Although most theremins are commonly associated with eerie metallic sounds, Palomo was able to morph a cosmic stream of melody from the strange instrument.

The lights went off, and — amid gasps from the audience — guitarist Ronald Gierhart’s pick guard served as the sole source of illumination. The pick guard projected a collage of psychedelic colors that hypnotized the audience. Almost immediately, a fan from the back of the ballroom yelled, “Dude, I love your guitar!”

The dance floor truly erupted when Palomo started the band’s hit “Deadbeat Summer” with a unique fade-in. Shouts of “Yeahs!” and an overpowering surge of applause almost drowned out the introduction. The entire audience became frantic as the crowd was asked to help the band sing the song, and everybody enthusiastically obliged.

Waves of bass ravenously consumed the ballroom as Neon Indian’s set concluded. The audience’s incessant applause beckoned Neon Indian back to the stage for an obligatory encore, which let Gierhart’s true psychedelic colors shine as he shredded through a virtuosic solo that mesmerized the ears — and the eyes — thanks again to the light-up pick guard.

If the concert was supposed to mimic an acid trip, the end of the concert was an unfortunate snap back to reality. The psychic sounds of Neon Indian haunted The Music Box as the crowd was exiled back to the Walk of Fame.