Blinding blue lights pierced the darkness of the small but packed Lincoln Theatre Saturday night, as colorfully dressed Neon Trees lead singer Tyler Glenn took to the stage wearing his neon orange glasses, as part of the band’s Fame is Dead tour.

Neon Trees guitarist Christopher Allen, bass guitarist Branden Campbell, drummer Elaine Bradley and special guest on keyboard and percussion Aaron Grant joined Glenn as they delighted attendees with new-age, emotional, alternative pop/rock songs from their recently released third studio album, “Pop Psychology,” as well as with old favorites.

The high moments

The special effect lighting amplified the fun mood set by many of the band’s songs, such as the first song of the night, “Lessons in Love (All Day, All Night),” which effectively got the audience singing, “All day, all night, I got the lights in my eyes.”

Glenn did a great job connecting to the audience with humorous anecdotes through which the audience learned about his own troubles finding love as he lamented the fact that he was 30 and single, providing the perfect setup for the popular “Love in the 21st Century.” “Animal” made the crowd go wild as everyone started singing the lyrics.

Though the audience kept dancing to a minimum, Glenn added energy to the crowd, going so far as to get on the floor himself during “Moving in the Dark.” He tried to tell the audience how “intimate” and “passionate” the venue made the concert seem, as it was the smallest room he had played in while on tour.

Grant added a nice touch to the concert, especially when he played a beautiful, soft and innocent piano intro during “Trust” with the lights off, setting a more relaxed mood. Of course, that did not last for long as Glenn quickly threw his jacket to the side when he spun across the stage, revealing to the audience that he could not only sing, but also dance.

The concert picked up during the second half as the audience began to loosen up, especially during the hit single “Sleeping with a Friend” and the most anticipated song of the night, “Everybody Talks.”

The low moments

Though less of a problem when Neon Trees performed, the high volume and poor audio quality and static muffled the lyrics of many songs, making the band sound better on its albums than in concert.

Song-wise, “Your Surrender” and “Mad Love” did not live up to the rest of the band’s performances. “Your Surrender” slowed things down (a little too much), although the energy did pick back up with Glenn’s heartfelt solo moment toward the end of the song.

As for “Mad Love,” the band tried to tell a story of how love doesn’t always make sense to outsiders by having Bradley put her head on Glenn’s shoulder, but Bradley’s vocals sounded sharp and distorted, possibly again due to the poor audio.

Opening acts

Nightmare and the Cat—a moody indie rock band comprised of lead vocalist Django Stewart, guitarist/vocalist Claire Acey, guitarist Samuel Stewart, bassist Scott Henson and drummer Spike Phillips—started off the show.

Although not particularly impressive (difficulty understanding the lyrics did not help), Stewart’s vocals seemed promising, and the band showed great chemistry and passion for its music.

The band Smallpools, on the other hand, almost stole the show from Neon Trees and will definitely make headlines in the future.

The group had a fun, indie pop sound to it that just made the audience feel good from drummer Beau Kulther’s high energy to Sean Scanlon’s outstanding vocal range evident during his falsetto in “Mason Jar.” Guitarist Mike Kamerman and bassist Joseph Intile rounded out the group, providing a few solos and head banging in true rocker style.