Upon walking on stage clad in a vampire cape, sparkling vest, and crude pageant-esque makeup, Ariel Pink made it clear: tonight he would present himself in complete, glorious weirdness.

Pink, who released his latest LP “Mature Themes” last August, creates a sound much like a culmination of all of the pop music released in the past forty years, clad in haziness: the line “Step into my time warp” from “Is This the Best Spot,” is all too appropriate. Pink pushes the limitations of tacky pop with his proficient, homemade songwriting abilities.

Pink dove into the crowd within the first few minutes at Friday’s performance at the Metro, and rarely did he finish a song thereafter without stage diving. Despite him being clearly inebriated and slightly insane, the music was tight and he finished the entire set without throwing the slightest fit, unlike 2011’s performance at Pitchfork Music Festival at which he stepped off stage after a much-abbreviated show. After a performance comprised mostly of “Mature Themes” and 2010’s acclaimed “Before Today,” Pink and his Haunted Graffiti project returned for an encore with their sixteen-minute epic, “Witchhunt Suite for WWIII”, the accompanying video for which is an incredibly thought-provoking and symbolic social statement.

The Metro provided the perfect cozy confinement for Pink to transport his audience into his timeless sound and likewise allow them to soak in his brilliant insanity. He played on his indie rock star status, messed with the audience, and sang about nymphomaniacs, yet Friday’s performance was easily one of my all-time favorites and provided all I could possibly hope for from Ariel Pink.