Seraphina Lotkhamnga on June 4th, 2012

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Even before Pat Grossi of Active Child started his set at the Troubadour on Thursday night, the glistening harp sitting on the stage with two angelic statues made for a heart-stopping moment. Then the fog began to rush in, and the Gothic-glazed R&B beats kicked in, and it was as if a show had sprung from the clouds just outside heaven’s gates.

• ||| Photos by Carl Pocket

“It feels so good to be home,” Grossi said before going into his hit with How To Dress Well, “Playing House,” a sentiment he repeated throughout the night. The L.A.-based artist’s homecoming show was sold out, after all, and seeing familiar faces in the crowd after a lengthy U.S. tour was making it hard for Grossi to hide his gratitude.

It’s been nine months since his debut record “You Are All I See” came out on Vagrant Records, and after making plenty of year-end lists (including this blog’s) Grossi’s work as Active Child remains as distinctive as ever, thanks to his eclectic combination of proper choral singing, intricate harp skills and dark beats.

Grossi has come a long way from his choir boy days and even quite a ways from his “Curtis Lane” EP. His music has gotten unapologetically more synth-heavy – if he wasn’t plucking away on the harp Thursday, he was tending to his shimmering ’80s effects. However, he hasn’t taken his vocal training for granted and it’s difficult to think of another artist who has made a room full of hipsters head bang to a harp in the last decade … or ever.

The way Grossi handles the balancing act between his precise vocals and how he relays grimy rhythms continues to border on spectacle, but it’s hardly what one would have ever thought of as “rock n’ roll.” Yet watching Grossi play up the reverb-cushioned, harp-laden melodies and sing those pure falsettos in songs such as “High Priestess” and “Hanging On” makes him swoon-worthy as any other bad-boy rock star in some other decade, if not more.

By the end of the Grossi’s set, the fog machine was serving two purposes. It wasn’t just helping with the aesthetic but its hypnotic mechanics had also become part of the music. As to break the spell, though, Grossi announced “Shield and Sword” would be their last song. To a roar of approval, he promised “We’ll be back though, as long as you keeping sharing some love with us.”

That vow was kept moments later, when Grossi and his two band mates returned to the stage for an encore consisting of “I’m In Your Church At Night” for the long-time fans, and the instrumental jam “Ivy” for anyone else who had given in to the light thus far.

L.A.’s Lord Huron opened with songs off of their forthcoming album. Former Superhumanoids drummer Evan Weinerman helped out with extra percussion and Brett Hool of We Are the West joined frontman Ben Schneider on some harmonies. Piano pop songstress Annie Stela kicked off the evening.