Miércoles 18 Ago 2010, 10:30
Tue 17 Aug – MGMT, Francis and the Lights
radio city music hall is the most beautiful building i've ever had the pleasure of sitting in. high ceilings, ornate light fixtures, and gold every-where. the seating bubbles out from the stage, so you're essentially sitting in this harmonic belly with sound bouncing off all the walls and always finding you. 'tis fantastic. it's like we were in a conch shell or inside the hollywood bowl (love that place, too). even if the band was terrible, i can't imagine anyone sounding crappy there. in short, the acoustics were amazing and our seats were a lot closer than i thought they would be.
auntie yen didn't get home until 700, so we missed the opener. but i don't really care. after waiting at governor's island for neon indian through FOUR opening acts, i didn't need to see anyone else but MGMT. i paid for THEM.
we arrived during the transition between francis & the lights and MGMT; they were very prompt with the 900 start. the set was a backboard of geometric shapes that lit up on the front, displaying messages and weird images. i think they kept it simple because (a) they don't care too terribly much and/or (b) they can't compete with the venue.
the band mostly stood in colourful shadows, so i never got to see vanwyngarden's baby-face-made-by-human-growth-hormone. oh well. i still got to hear his high voice! they remained fairly stationary onstage, occasionally drifting towards each other, always returning to the same spot. they're not super charismatic and you can tell from listening to their music–great pop songs that don't educe deep introspection or bring out shades of yourself you don't expect. i've never connected to MGMT the way i do other bands (the avalanches, explosions in the sky). also, i've never met someone who LOVES them; people just LIKE them.
yen commented: "everyone knows their two songs but you know them all!" i attribute that to the, um, "way" i listen to MGMT. i remember lots of things. anyways, "time to pretend" sounded crisp and alive. everyone sang along and bobbed about. "kids" was pre-recorded and that would have made me angry, had it not been for the people around me. nobody seemed to care because we were having so much fun anyways, jumping up and waving our glowsticks (courtesy of the guys in front of us throwing handfuls into the crowd).
to my personal favorite song, "of moons, birds & monsters," played with organic instrumentation and not too much pre-fab treatment made me really happy. the psychedelic outro is a thousand times more moving live.
we both rolled our eyes when they played "siberian breaks," the 13 minute-long track. that, like the excessively crunchy "impromptu" jam session between encore songs three and four, was a little too ambitious. nay, it was hackneyed. MGMT, i think you're adorable, but you're not the flaming lips!
still, i danced all night long because i was barefoot wearing a fun dress and, quite frankly, it's difficult NOT to dance to MGMT. they make you want to groove, especially the sultry-slinky "electric feel." they're fun–a little over-the-top, yet still fun.
plenty of people stood around, though. and, yes, they were white. 60$ spent well? debatable.
opening with "pieces of what" and closing with "congratulations," they developed a very chill vibe which felt appropriate for a hot tuesday evening. MGMT were professional, sounding like they do on the records, but you could tell being at radio city music hall was unbelievable, even for them.