Lollapalooza ’10: MGMT – 8/8/10

Of all the albums released in 2010 thus far, none compare to the polar reactions Congratulations generated when it leaked into the wild. Some were shocked and relieved while others were disappointed and confused, the few weeks of chit-chat and tweets thereafter seemed endless. MGMT effectively made me scratch me head when I was fully expecting to pull my hair out, and there’s something to be said for that. Even still, Congratulations took awhile to sink in so how many concerts would I have to see to achieve the same effect? As it turns out, just one.

Before their Sunday evening set, I was as apprehensive about their new live show as I was about seeing MGMT perform in daylight. Aside from the rhythmic anthems on Oracular Spectacular, their new material has a creepy pop appeal to it that sounds tailor-made for a dark stage full of smoke machines and pulsating lights. However, music was what mattered most and MGMT definitely delivered on that part of the equation, delivering a 15-song set combining the best parts of both albums.

Part of me wondered how they would treat their debut material and how the crowd would receive their latest tracks – I couldn’t have been more pleased with both results. It wasn’t as if MGMT completely swore off their original material, mixing in half the songs from Oracular Spectacular including all the hits we’ve blared in our cars at one time or the other. Conversely, their fans were rabid and sang-a-long with the majority of Congratulations (although not louder than they did to “Time to Pretend”).

Perhaps one of the coolest things of Lollapalooza occurred when I was waiting in the photo pit for The National across from MGMT as they were wrapping up their set. They started up “Kids” to much adoration and nearly the entire crowd in front of The National’s stage, within earshot, were singing the lyrics in unison like some indie kumbaya. It was a strange scene and so what, maybe I sang a chorus.. or five.

◄ Back

Next ►

Picture 1 of 9

[Show as slideshow]

[View with PicLens]