Mobile Homes at Electric Christmas

The curtain literally fell at midnight, revealing the secret band of Electric Christmas. For weeks, speculation had been running wild. The organizers had teased the appearance of one of the greatest Swedish synth bands of all time. Naturally, everyone had a theory.

My own guesses bounced between Adolphson & Falk (fresh from their unexpected reunion in Malmö after two decades apart), Page (probably not, since Eddie played for a tiny crowd on the latest Romo Night), Ratata (not likely), Elegant Machinery or maybe even plain old Covenant again.

Suddenly the answer was standing there in front of us. Mobile Homes. The band wisely chose to perform the original arrangements of their classic songs instead of the jazz-infused reinterpretations from their recent appearance at club Killing Music. Familiar melodies, shimmering synths and their unmistakable sound filled the venue. A bit underwhelming though, and their backdrop video with a girl just felt wrong.

Mobile Homes live at Electric Christmas.

A few hours later the dance floor was packed, the DJs doing what they always do best. Suddenly a S.P.O.C.K. track came on. Nobody thought much of it. People kept dancing. Then something odd happened. One by one, dancers stopped moving. Instead of looking toward the speakers, everyone was staring at the stage. I turned around just in time to see why.

There they were, Alexander Hofman and the entire lineup of S.P.O.C.K., already performing live while most of us had assumed the music was simply coming from the DJ booth. It was a wonderfully understated reveal, and within seconds the room had transformed from club night to full-blown concert.

The only surprise they didn’t deliver was “Never Trust a Klingon”. Somehow, both S.P.O.C.K. and Mobile Homes managed to leave several of their greatest songs untouched. Perhaps that’s the privilege of bands with catalogs strong enough that they don’t have to rely entirely on the obvious choices.

Even so, uncovering not one but two surprises in a single evening made Electric Christmas feel a little like Christmas should: full of presents you never quite expected.