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The Danish quintet Slaraffenland wowed the audience with an incredible performance last week at its first U.S. tour kick off show at the Larimer Lounge.

While Denver might seem like an odd place for a European band to begin a stateside tour, Slaraffenland has a Colorado connection. After releasing two critically acclaimed albums in Europe, the band from Copenhagen signed with Boulder-based indie label Hometapes.

Slaraffenland’s first album for Hometapes was recorded and mixed in Denmark before being released here in June. The album won rave reviews, as listeners loved the addition of a variety of vocals to Slaraffenland’s signature abstract instrumentals. The shows this fall will be the first to include the new songs and vocals found on Private Cinema.

A modest crowd of late-twenties hipsters assembled before the small stage as Slaraffenland began its set. The first resounding horn blasts seemed to startle the audience, but as the song progressed, adding more and more instruments, the uncertainty of the audience melted away. By the second tune, Slaraffenland had the whole crowd in its pocket.

The set revealed a depth and complexity that one can only understand after seeing the band live. Each song grew more intricate than the previous one through the unusual use of trumpets, horns, flutes, clarinets, guitars and drums. The result was a surprisingly pure sound as each instrument added just the right amount of flair without being distracting.

The later numbers were rather melodramatic with their blaring horns and monk-like chanting. The crowd especially enjoyed the trance-inducing effects of the dark, eerie single “Polaroids.” However, the most awe-inspiring song of the night proved to be “Watch Out.” The song invoked images of “West Side Story’s” alley fights with its barking vocals and screaming horns.

The band’s set steered the audience through an audio labyrinth of vocal styles and instrumental progressions to the land of audio milk and honey, or as the Danes call it, Slaraffenland.