Moon Walk.

Scenes From Mansions on the Moon's Debut Dallas Show.

This past weekend was a slow one as concerts in Dallas went. Blame the festival season hangover for that. Don't, however, blame upstart Los Angeles-based electro-pop outfit Mansions on the Moon.

That four-piece played their first ever open-to-the-public show in Dallas this past Friday night at the Prophet Bar (some months back, they'd played a private, corporate-sponsored party). And though their crowd wasn't necessarily massive, it was a definitely dedicated one — almost excessively so.

But more on that later.

From the start of the band's nearly hour-long offering on Friday, it was easy to understand the passion that drove the mostly college-aged crowd in attendance to this outfit. Opening without much of an intro — just a quick walk onto the stage and an immediate jump into their very first song — the band immediately endeared itself to the crowd with “Broken Paradise,” their blogosphere- and Neptunes-approved appropriation of Washed Out's “Feel It All Around” backing beat.

Perhaps, it could be argued, that opening song selection was an odd — and, let's face it, unoriginal — one. But it served its purpose; friends dragged to the show by the fans of the outfit nodded on in approval at the familiarity of the song's backing track. To that end, it was a nice segue into the rest of the band's borderline chillwave offering on this night, which stayed that course, save for a quick acoustic dalliance that even frontman Ted Wendler seemed to express regret over. Then it was back to the synth-heavy, Toro y Moi-ish jams largely culled from their 2012 Lightyears EP that this audience came to see and unabashedly dance to.

Near the front of the stage, at least one fan seemed to reach euphoria thanks to the band's offering, dancing like, well, something of a crazy person nonstop throughout the set. And, very much along those lines, his surefire approval of the band's sounds would manifest itself in something of an ugly fashion at the end of their set. Soon as Mansions on the Moon said goodnight to their fans and exited the stage, this fan hopped up in their place, detaching the plastic bird mounted onto Wendler's microphone stand and bolting for the venue's doors before anyone really knew what to make of his move.

It was a bizarre end to an otherwise enjoyable night. And, fortunately, it was a scenario that Mansions on the Moon didn't seem to mind, let alone a situation that might cloud the band's otherwise enjoyable impression of Dallas crowds.

“We bought that for, like, three bucks at Walmart,” Wendler would offer after his band's set, shrugging while standing near the venue's bar. “We can always buy another.”

All photos by Anton Schlesinger.