"Late Night Empire" May 4 at Empire Ballroom

Stopping by Empire Ballroom's after-hours bash last weekend was a happy accident, as we walked in on an under-promoted headliner doing some mind-blowing things with new musical technology, mostly of his invention.

John Laraio, aka Mobius 8, has a live presence unlike any other electronic music performer, and it goes beyond his Kubrickian costuming. While he doesn't jump up and down a la BT, or prowl the stage like The Prodigy's Keith Flint, he artfully conducts his techno orchestra using a complex set-up of equipment ... which he barely ever touches. What his trick? Using a digital instrument of his own making, a movement-sensing gizmo called Hydra, he merely waves his arms in the air -- or strikes buttons and pads on occasion -- and triggers samples, drum fills, lighting effects, etc. It's like watching someone playing a Nintendo Wii, but they're creating a whole audio/visual world as opposed to competing within an existing one.

It's one thing to move a dance floor, but it's another to ensnare every pair of eyes on it -- and that's what Mobius 8 accomplished on May 4. Crafting soundscapes that overlap trance, techno and prog rock -- the guy did once tour with Yes -- Mobius piled on samples and loops and beats somewhat akin to the way English producer/jock Sasha remixes live with the Abelton Live program and his custom-made Maven controller, but with far more theatricality, mystery and the added visual effect manipulation. Sure, the crowd seemed to physically react to the music's dynamic shifts, but they were unmistakably glued to the lasers and lighting above and behind him. I've seen some pretty impressive lighting displays in Empire, and back when it was Club Utopia, but nothing like this.

There were, however, moments when it felt like something of a novelty, an arbitrary display of music and lights that didn't really build to any discernible climax. Sometimes songs would jam out longer than they should. Even his set was overextended, broken up by a brief, intermission-like mini-set from SoCal DJ Avi Ram. Still, he managed to go out with a bang as he finished with the one-two remix punch of Depeche Mode's "Enjoy the Silence" and Soundgarden's "Black Hole Sun," from which Empire resident Joey Mazzola segued into that popular dance reworking of Oasis' "Wonderwall" and the rest of his pleasurably bodyrockin' set. It may have sometimes sounded like the 1990s in Empire, but it sure as hell looked like the future.