The Grammy Award winning, 10-piece band, Grupo Fantasma, returned to perform after an overwhelming response from its last performance and played a Latin fusion of salsa, funk, merengue and modern cumbia music as part of the Artist-Lecture Series in Akin Auditorium at 7 p.m. on Jan. 31.

The auditorium quickly filled with a mixed audience of Latin music fans, students, and all ages of the general public. The seats occupied a crowd of diverse cultures ranging from Asian to Hispanic. Upon the anticipation of the band’s arrival, a murmur of laughter and multiple conversations saturated the room.

More than 15 microphones setup the stage as well as hand towels and water bottles at every instrument station in preparation for the performance. As the group of more than 12 years came out on stage, Jose Galeano, the bandleader, singer and percussionist introduced the group to the crowd.

“We’re going to have fun this evening everybody,” Galeano said.

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Hues of bright pink, purple, orange, yellow and blue danced across the stage during the entire performance.

Grupo Fantasma featured instruments consisting of a trumpet, trombone, baritone saxophone, three different kinds of guitars, three different drum sets and different hand percussion instruments. They performed songs like their award-winning hit, “El Existential” and their version of the 1983 Talking Heads song, “Burning Down the House.”

All of the pieces played had high-volume, up-beat Latin rhythms and tempos, which had all the band members dancing and moving their heads to the beats until sudden pauses interrupted the constant rhythm for an enhanced mood.

When they did not play all of the instruments in unison, the band showcased different guitar, drum and brass solos. But, there was rarely a point where a musician was not contributing somehow, because all musicians sang background vocals when they were not playing their instruments.

Because there was not enough room for audience members to dance from their seats, Galeano got the crowd going by either clapping his drumsticks or hands together, signaling people to follow his lead. The audience clapped along and more than five people recorded the performance on their smartphones and cameras at one point of the show.

Halfway through the show, the band recognized Magaly Rincon-Zachary, biology professor and the director of undergraduate student research, who has been with MSU for 21 years, as their “number one fan in Wichita Falls.” As she met Grupo Fantasma on stage, Galeano presented her a token of their gratitude.