Playing in front of a giant video-panelbackdrop, MGMT didn’t waste much time, jumping between their two albums’differing brands of energized rock and pop dripping with synthesizers, guitars,keyboards and other instruments. The sold-out crowd got the best of bothworlds; there were high-octane guitar punches of energy, hypnotic, psychedelicdoses of ’60s-drenched rock ’n’ roll, surf rock and New Wave songs, many ofwhich floated slowly before bolting to life in a full-blown sprint.
The band’s set included albumselections like “Flash Delirium,” “Electric Feel,” “The Youth,” “It’s Working,”“Weekend Wars,” “Brian Eno,” “Time to Pretend” and a slightly stripped-downacoustic version of “Pieces of What,” which gave way to the band jamming out.Many songs played out like a journey, especially the 12-minute epic “SiberianBreaks” from Congratulations, a songthat wandered through fields of echoing piano and guitars.
The night’s only flaw came when theband played their mega-hit “Kids” at the beginning of the encore, which produced asea of jumping fans as the group (and members of opener Tame Impala) broughttheir energy to climactic proportions. It seemed like a bit of a letdown whenthe band ended with slower, more subdued songsthen again, the band hasrepeatedly shown that they don’t want to let that one hit define them. Theyfinished the night with the title track “Congratulations,” as if to thank thecrowd for following along with them as they explored new directions.
Opener Tame Impala played swaggeringrock ’n’ roll marked by trippy guitars tuned way up, droning distortion anddisorienting jams.
Photo by CJ Foeckler
