California band The Mowgli’s performed for an audience of ecstatic fans last Wednesday, Feb. 21 at the Ladies Literary Club. Although it was the band’s first time at Calvin, a young crowd of students and others came out to dance and sing along to their catchy, high energy pop songs.

The Mowgli’s began as a loosely constructed, fluctuating and hippie-leaning collective group of musicians who would play all-night parties and warehouse shows in Venice Beach, California. Now, several years after that first phase of the band, The Mowgli’s have become a much tighter, pop-oriented endeavor.

Even though the group has seen a lot of change in their several years — a heavy schedule of touring in lieu of local parties, shifts in lineup and alterations of their sound — one thing that remains is the spirit of optimism in their work.

On the band’s most recent album, “Where’d Your Weekend Go,” their optimistic tone holds strong. As the album’s narrative shifts — from a song about feeling lost, to a song about hope for lasting to love, to a song about the loneliness of feeling unloved or unlovable, to a song that questions whether or not loneliness has to be bad — the mode of optimism pervades.

Just like their album, The Mowgli’s live show is an attempt to dance away the listlessness of young life. Dancing, singing, arm-waving and general exuberance carried on throughout the show from the band and audience alike.

Unusually for a show in a sit-down venue, the band’s fans crammed together into the small standing area immediately in front of the stage. Even those in the standard aisles of seats remained standing for the entirety of the concert.

The Mowgli’s returned the crowd’s committed excitement with an energy-filled performance rife with rockstar moves, jumping around the stage, guitar solos and playful stage banter. They also thanked the audience repeatedly for their noticeable enthusiasm.

Mainland, the show’s opener, also won the audience over with their pop-infused reinterpretation of new wave. Despite being the lesser-known band on the bill, they rounded out the concert with a different style and energy than the headliner.

The Mowgli’s and Mainland brought an evening of energy, fun and dancing to the Ladies Literary Club, a venue more often on the quiet side. And the eager, young audience responded with an equal measure of energy, participation and gratitude.