I have seen a lot of concerts in my day, but few of them have been as completely, amazingly mind-blowing as the Asobi Seksu show at the Troubadour in West Hollywood.

In the minutes before the show started, I was asked by a few people who the opening bands were. Not knowing their music myself, I simply restated the names on the marquee: Resplandor and Bell.

I was met with strange faces, but any confusion that may have arisen soon dissolved when Resplandor took the stage and charmed the crowd with their unique brand of gauzy vocals layered over dreamy melodies and fuzzy drums. It’s so hard to generate buzz in a city so full of jaded skeptics, but the Peruvian quintet managed to coerce even the most stoic to start nodding in time with the music.

The band’s mix of beautiful, violent noise brought to mind the reverb-heavy force of Los Angeles band Silversun Pickups. Despite being an unknown group at the start of their set, Resplandor were met with hearty applause and a few new fans by the end.

Then it was time for Bell. When someone comes out brandishing a shiny red keytar, you know you’re in for something really, really awesome…and that’s exactly what we got. Olga Bell, the avant-garde musician from Brooklyn, New York, treated the audience to an almost indescribable mix of sexy, seductive keyboards, sound samples, drums, and her heavenly, Karen O-esque voice. The singer stood before her trusty Roland keyboard wearing red leggings, silver sneakers, and a brown shirt covered in tiger faces, and softly told the audience she and her band were going to “vibe them out.”

The crowd was clearly smitten with Bell, who described Los Angeles as “neon and woodsy” and its inhabitants as “laid back and West Coast-y.”

With an intriguing new sound and percussion that ranged from a drum machine (played with glowing drumsticks, I might add) to tambourines and maracas, Bell clearly left her mark on the LA crowd.

When Bell finished, it was more than evident that the audience was anxious to see the headliners. Finally, the band of the hour, Asobi Seksu, took the stage.

They played many of the songs from their new album, Hush, including their first single “Me and Mary,” “In the Sky,” the ghostly “Blind Little Rain” and “Familiar Light,” as well as “Thursday” and “New Year’s” from 2006’s Citrus. On a stage adorned with red and blue Christmas lights, Yuki Chikudate sang as beautifully and effortlessly as she does on the record.

Playing in such a small space, the band managed to create a full presence as the music enveloped our senses and our heartbeats were replaced by the pounding of a kick drum. For a while, I even forgot how badly my feet hurt from standing in three-inch heels.

It was a spectacular performance, due in part from Asobi Seksu’s never-ending energy and devotion, and from the incredible light work, which consisted of a bright white strobe-light that flickered with the intensity of the music and created an almost horror movie effect.

They finished on a strong note, with the song “Pink Cloud Chasing Paper,” and were met with thunderous applause. After about ten minutes of non-stop clapping and cheers, the band returned once more for easily the most outstanding encore I have ever witnessed. They played one of their older songs, after which Chikudate removed her leather jacket and began playing the drums to accompany bandmate James Hanna. Once again, the strobe-lighting flashed and the audience stood in complete awe of what was happening before them.

When it was over, as people began filing out of the Troubadour, kicking around the empty bottles on the floor and participating in the post-concert ritual of peeling the posters from the walls, it was more than obvious that, while other bands may perform sets, Asobi Seksu puts on a show.