After all, one of the band's hits, "Time to Pretend," is a goofy shot at what Ben Goldwasser and Andrew VanWyngarden would do if they, y'know, actually made it big: I'll move to Paris, shoot some heroin, and fuck with the stars.
Little did they know that their college project would transform them into the very stars they intended to fuck with. After the release of the band's 2007 debut, Oracular Spectacular, MGMT's burbling electronic melodies exploded into massive radio hits. Now, "Kids," "Time to Pretend" and "Electric Feel" are relics of MGMT's relatively shallow past. The eerie, lonely stretches of the band's sophomore release, Congratulations, took the band's label by surprise and alienated a large amount of the band's fan base; and now, MGMT is out on tour to support its "grower" of a sophomore album.
As if to capitalize on the band's off-kilter aesthetic, MGMT's set started off strangely, with a dark, two-and-a-half-minute dissonant track from its new album, "Someone's Missing." Andrew VanWyngarden's frail falsetto hovered over the band's ominous thuds until the song broke into a wall-of-noise effect (which would be attempted multiple times throughout the night). It was an odd choice, but at least an intense, spacey climax drowned out the crowd's chatter.
Screams and shouted greetings formed another wall of noise. Teenage girls ran, giggled and squealed while thumping up and down the hallways of the Uptown -- which would be fine, if MGMT wasn't in the throes of an introspective groove while it was happening. It was sad: the band's bizarre, jarring psych-ballads were completely lost on this sold-out venue, and, at first, MGMT's stabs at its exuberant dance tracks were unnervingly sedate.
| Forester Michael |
This was a trend. More abstract, slightly less popular tracks from Oracular Spectacular (like "Weekend War") fared much better than the band's larger hits, benefiting from the more carefully orchestrated treatment that highlighted how much richer MGMT's sound has become since its debut.
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I love MGMT, but their crowd ALWAYS sucks at shows. I've seen them twice and both times the crowd was about 5% real fans who care about music and 95% hipster wannabe douchebags and immature fangirls who just want to listen to "Kids".
When I saw them in Ohio I stood by a group of girls who talked about how hot Andrew was for about 40 minutes, then bitched when Tame Impala was playing, then bitched that MGMT was taking so long, and then bitched about the heat. Then you had all of the drunk frat kids belligerently push their way to the front through people who just wanted to listen to music and have a good time.
I think I'll wait and go watch them again once all of the hype is gone and there is a new "cool" band for the hipsters.
Please don't compare MGMT to Bowie or Lou Reed ever again. They shouldn't be mentioned in the same breath as either.
It was a rock show. far too many people just should not have been there, and i'm not talking about the sophomore in high school crowd. (at least they had a blast) way too many felt that they needed their personal space to be respected... in the third freaking row! don't go to a rock show (especially close to the stage) if you don't want a smelly, muggy, loud, raucous environment. light your candles and put on your headphones and STAY HOME. first time seeing MGMT, will definitely not be the last. they are rock stars in every sense of the term. they sounded great and in their own way, had a lot of fun. yes they don't run around the stage and pump up the crowd, but bowie didn't do that, lou reed didn't do that, lots of other real rockers don't need to be smiley smiles all the time to let you know they love being up there. obviously MGMT are a long way off from those guys, but i think they are on their way. one last thing... that shirt that got stuck on the head of his guitar, leading Andrew to dance with a shirt hanging from his acoustic, was one of the coolest things iv'e ever seen.
Long Live the Uptown!
This band sucked live-extremely disappointing. Crowd incredibly annoying as well. Gave many hard jabs to the ribs of drunk teenage girls bumping into me every two minutes.
MGMT has to be one of the most disappointing live bands that I have ever seen (Saw them with Beck a couple of years ago). It is a shame, the albums are well produced.
There was a school bus full of drunk teens that pulled up to the show, like 15 and 16 years old. A bus full! How does that happen? One of my friends had to help a 15 year old boy that was passed out on the ground in front of her car.
I was quite pleased with the concert. Though, I agree that MGMT had little stage presence. Kind of dissappointing. It was probably because of the trashed teenagers running around during the whole concert. I'm 16, but I appreciate all of MGMT's music and I wasn't going to the concert to get trashed and hook up with some college dude. I went for the music. It really ruined the mood/atmosphere for me and the people around me as drunk 15-18 year olds ran into us during Brain Eno. Sad, yet I can't say I hated the concert. It was worth it to here some of my favorite songs by them live, but I was still a little dissappointed.
One of the worst experiences I've had a show. The crowd was unbearably immature. It was so flipping hot I couldn't even think straight. 5 different kind of swag were omnipresent. Sweaty, stinky children were running in between folks like no one was in the one. Drunk 15 year old girls hugging 25 year old dudes.
The first band was complete garbage. The heat mixed with the dullness of the band almost made me fall asleep...standing up. I'm dead serious. I couldn't believe the band was serious. It seemed as though they were practicing in front of...no one. Idiots were convinced that THEY were MGMT.
This was my first time seeing MGMT. With all the negatives about the atmosphere, the only truly outstanding thing I have to say about their performance is that their lighting was great! Their show, not so much. They had zero stage presence. And although they were better than the warm-up band, they still were up there just playing casually.
To make things even worse, the Uptown's soundman should be shot on site. The vocal mics were fluctuating like the Dow Jones. 3/4 of the time I couldn't hear anything but shattered ambiance. It sounded like I was in the El Torreon.
Boo.
Thank GOD my tickets were free. Best thing all night was my BLVD wheat...which was $10.
My sister and I were in the very front row and thought the show rocked!!! We knew all of the words to the songs, and we were there for every song they had to play in their set list. My personal favorite of theirs is Siberian Breaks and it was a dream come true to hear them play it so perfectly live. All of the music was great, and Congratulations is a great album.
I enjoyed the concert. I'm not one to usually go for the balcony but went up there to get away from all the Jr. High kids. The people in my section were into all of the music and I was able to enjoy the show. Don't know if that would have been the case down on the floor. I saw them open for Beck at the Uptown a while back and they were a little more lively and the crowd was into the whole set. Not a bunch of teenagers at that show, though.
i thought tame impala was awful ^^ screeching mikes and the guy sang too loud. my opinion.
but i agree the crowd was awful, throughout the night beer bottles and trash was thrown up on the stage. it was soo rude!! but regardless i thought the night was fun, i enjoyed mgmt a lot, they played well
I saw MGMT a few years back and they were severely disappointing live...I'm not surprised to hear that the crowd only wanted to hear the 3 popular songs off the last album.
On another note, did anyone catch the opener Tame Impala? I really wanted to see them but couldn't stomach spending full price on a ticket to see them play an opening set.
Worst crowd ever. Were quiet for the 3 songs mentioned above and talked incessantly through all the others. Would have enjoyed it so much more if I could actually hear the band well, even though I agree....they are very stiff and clearly not comfortable on stage.
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