I saw MGMT at Doug Fir on Tuesday, Earth Day, actually. I was a little wary, due to a negative show review I read in the Portland Mercury (last week's "Once More With Feeling" column, if you care to check it out at www.portlandmercury.com). I must admit, it took me a little while to get into the set, perhaps because I was hoping a delirious and slightly freaked-out stage persona would reveal itself in the form of the frontperson, Andrew Vanwyngarden (pictured).
There was no banter between songs, disappointingly, but the songs themselves were tight. They were also a bit without spontaneity, kind of canned (which is surprising, given their lush and freaky sound)...until the last song before the encore. I didn't catch the name of it (anyone who did, leave a comment!), but it was an at least 15-minute opus that called to mind Led Zeppelin, the Doors...and I don't remember what else, because my mind was pretty blown. It didn't seem like crappy noodling, either, it seemed like the first time during the set the band actually enjoyed themselves. At the end of the song, a dude up front in the audience handed Mr. Vanwyngarden a crystal, which was pretty cool. Mr. Vanwyngarden seemed truly appreciative. It was a very nice exchange to witness.
The next best part was during the encore, during their final song, "Kids." The band passed out what seemed to be Doritos (I wasn't lucky enough to get any...but then again, I didn't trust that they weren't coated in Liquid Sunshine) to the audience, whilst singing the lovely and fitting lyrics, "enjoy yourself, take only what you need from them." There was a point at which the guitarist was strumming his guitar with the Doritos. Here's the song. It's so sweet. I borrowed it from musicunderfire.blogspot.com, which has a really cute Arbor Day 2008 mix.
What we're listening to at officetoday: Patrick Wolf, Jamie Lidell, Andrew Bird, new Portishead, Sufjan Stevens, Panda Riot
Til we meet again~
AR
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