Seraphina Lotkhamnga on August 22nd, 2014

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No one’s pounded their chest this hard since Celine Dion’s last performance of “My Heart Will Go On.” That its until Future Islands’ Samuel Herring – donning a button-down shirt tucked in to a nice pair of slacks – walked onto the stage at the Fonda Theatre on Wednesday night. He passionately stared into the crowd, lifted his palm to the sky and clenched it into a fist, repeatedly smacking his chest to express the power of the heart.

• ||| Photos by Zane Roessell

For the most part, that is what the Baltimore synth-pop trio (a quartet if you count their new live drummer) set out to do in front of the raging crowd. Herring was simply relaying his messages about love, whether it was about being in love with someone else, in love with the world or in love with pure idea of existence.

With moves that would also rival any aerobics class you’ve seen, Herring and the Future Islands crew did not disappoint their loyal fans as they performed new and old songs, and this was only one of four Los Angeles shows this week. (They also sold out the Grammy Museum earlier in the day, did a second Fonda show on Thursday and are slated to perform at FYF Fest on Saturday.)

Their most recent and captivating performance on the “Late Show with David Letterman” went viral, but to see Herring in action on stage was another experience. “He’s awesome!” shouted shimmying girls next to their jumping boyfriends. “He’s crazy. I love it!” shouted bros to fellow bros. Then there would also be the fans up front only fixated on the front man and shouting the lyrics back to the stage. It was chaotic but it was also innocent fun … for the most part … Herring is also known for his sensual body rolls which he does with one hand behind his head. By the time the band finished the third song in their set (“Back In the Tall Grass”), Herring’s shirt was already soaked, but staying the classy man that he is, he settled for untucking the shirt instead of stripping a layer off.

Standout songs were the beloved dance tune “Viero’s Eye” off 2010’s “Evening Air” and the anthemic “Seasons (Waiting On You)” from their latest record “Singles” (out now via 4AD), but even someone like Herring gets tired and slows things down. Ballads such as “The Great Fire” inspired a beautiful duet when the audience took on the part sung on record by Wye Oak’s Jenn Wasner, and “A Song For Our Grandfathers” provided a touching performance.

As expected, an encore followed the main set, but Future Islands took their time back stage. Not only did they have sweat to wipe off, but they may have known that their fans would wait. Waiting is indeed what they did but fans lacking in the patience department were quick to all jump and stomp on the floor in unison to demand the band’s return to the stage.

Walking back out in just a white undershirt, Herring and the crew appeased the crowd by performing three more songs including “ Beach Foam” off 2008’s “Wave Like Home,” which was a request from the audience.

Operators, the new-wave project from Dan Boeckner (Wolf Parade, Handsome Furs) and Sam Brown (New Bomb Turks), preceded the night with songs off of their “EP 1.” Fellow Divine Fits member Britt Daniels (Spoon) was also in the house on Wednesday night.