At the Commodore Ballroom on Saturday, September 3

Bob Moses, not be confused with the infamous urban-planner it’s named after, hails from “the couv”.

And in case you didn’t know it—say, perhaps, you hadn’t spotted the act on the cover of a local newspaper, fallen in love with its ultra-chill debut LP, Days Gone By, and then proceeded to frantically scour Craigslist for tickets to its sold-out show—the now Brooklyn-based downtempo electro duo ensured that its roots were made clear at the Commodore Ballroom on Saturday night (September 3).

“Man, it feels good to be home!” Tom Howie, Bob Moses’s spindly singer-guitarist, exclaimed after coming into focus onstage. He and keyboardist Jimmy Vallance, along with the pair’s drummer for the evening, had remained cloaked in a haze of smoke and flashing lights during the group’s opening number: a deliciously groovy medley of “Talk”, “Far From the Tree”, and “Like It or Not”, which immediately sent listeners into a rhythmic frenzy.

For its part, the crowd—a glorious mix of alt-leaning twenty-somethings, cargo shorts–clad Dads, and fresh-outta-high-school-looking punks—pulled out all the stops for a heartwarming homecoming.

The smell of pot hung over the room like a sweet, cotton-candy cloud. Glittering images of Howie’s and Vallance’s faces, as well as several homemade cutouts in the shapes of hands—presumably a nod to Bob Moses’s first EP, Hands to Hold—floated overhead on metre-long sticks.

Frat-boy types and hipsters belted out lyrics to the bulk of the twosome’s hypnotic, slow-beating catalogue—from the vehemently catchy “Tearing Me Up” to the pulsating “Hands to Hold”—with a sheer, lost-in-the-music bliss that rivaled Howie’s soulful ease onstage.

But it was Vallance who stole the show, striking his keys and tambourine with an enthusiasm so aggressively unbridled that it inspired one head-bobbing fellow to quip, “How much does that guy love his job, eh?”

The answer, it seems, is a lot. When Vallance wasn’t rocking the instrumentals, he was revving up the crowd or fist-pumping with a genuinely endearing quality not unlike that seen in Jersey Shore’s heyday. We gleefully obliged to his request to get our “fucking hands in the air” ahead of an ebullient performance of “Touch and Go” before watching as he shimmied his way across the stage to partake in some fervent cymbal-smashing.

Upon returning for an encore—a two-piece set highlighted by the aptly titled “Too Much Is Never Enough”—Bob Moses reflected aloud on the full-circle moment. “I remember when I was 16, with a fake ID, trying to get into the Roxy and shit,” Howie shared.

It was one of many reminders throughout the night that the Vancouver-bred duo has evolved from house-party DJs to sold-out headliners at one of the most iconic live-music venues in the city.

Shortly before hightailing it to the official Bob Moses after-party in East Van, the pair requested a photo. Howie handed off his smartphone, turning his back to the audience and assuming a crouched position with Vallance to prevent their willowy frames from obstructing the hundreds of people behind them. Their hands formed peace signs.

The crowd reciprocated with their arms stretched high in the air, smiles plastered on almost every face as the camera clicked. It’s good to be home.