Music lovers throughout Chicago constantly badmouth The Congress for its overzealous security, but there is no denying the popularity of the venue. A large majority of the biggest acts in the music scene today choose to play there. The Congress has some of the best music the city has to offer, whether you like it or not.

The venue also hosts concert collaborations, which are almost like mini music festivals, at a low cost. Last February, Pandemonium Fest graced The Congress with The New Deal, Conspirator, Nero and a plethora of deejays. But last Friday, Feb. 17, offered an even more superb match-up of talented bands.

Electronic producer Emancipator, accompanied by a violinist, opened up the show. His rhythmic, fairly mellow beats got the early arrivers swaying melodiously.

However, what everyone was really waiting for were the two acts to follow.

Conspirator — comprised of keyboardist Aron Magner and bassist Marc Brownstein of The Disco Biscuits, guitarist Chris Michetti and various powerhouse drummers who are rotated for different shows — was the second act of the night.

Their set was so full of energy it was hard to stop moving. There was a lot of movement on stage, both from the musicians and the colorful lighting, to balance out that of the audience. “Boom Shanker” was definitely a crowd pleaser.

Then came the final band, which most people seemed to be there to see: Lotus. They were on par the whole night, playing many different electronic genres to make virtually every listener’s ears happy. Their set opened up with “Flower Sermon,” which has a slower, trance-y feel to it. Then Lotus kicked it up a notch with a more dubstep song, “Dowrn.” The second half was much more rock ‘n roll. The guitar riffs in “Sunrain” created a blissful feeling, which spread amongst the crowd. “128” was a solid last pick, which got the crowd cheering extremely loud for about two minutes until Lotus went back onto the stage for the encore.This was by far the best part of the entire evening. They started with one of their most well known and most played songs “Bush Pilot.” Then they played another popular tune “Spiritualize,” which segued into Lotus’ rare rendition of “Zelda” and back into “Spiritualize.” The crowd was going so crazy that at the end of the unforgettable encore, Lotus promised to come back to Chicago more regularly.