Of Montreal - Great American Music Hall, San Francisco - 02/03/07
Posted by Brian Berry on 02.13.2007
A sold out show, glitter, and a massive head dress. All this and more from the band who made the most critically acclaimed album of the new year.
Recommended if you dig: David Bowie, The Decemberists, Depeche Mode, Neutral Milk Hotel, New Order, Prince, T. Rex
The last time I caught Of Montreal in 2005, the San Francisco crowd awkwardly danced their (predominantly) White asses off to the whirling synth beats and funky basslines of the band. If you’ve been to an SF show, you know how little movement there is within our crowds...so these guys must be doing something special.
Despite recently taking a different direction with their music, the kids were still getting down to one of indie rock’s biggest names. This was the third of four completely sold out San Francisco shows, highlighting a transitional period for the band, on what is an extensive North American tour.
On Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer?, Of Montreal’s latest album, the Athens, Georgia band makes a dramatic departure from the flowery, lyrically surrealist, psych-pop found on previous albums. Seeing that they’re in cahoots with the Elephant 6 music collective bands (e.g. Neutral Milk Hotel, Apples In Stereo, Olivia Tremor Control), this style of music is nearly impossible to avoid.
Released on January 23, the album takes on darker subject matter, with surprisingly straightforward lyrics, from frontman Kevin Barnes’ pen. Barnes wrote the concept album about a separation from his wife shortly after conceiving a child in Norway. Hissing Fauna stands up against other, similarly intense, concept records on the subject of crumbled romances, such as Astral Weeks (Van Morrison), The Meadowlands (The Wrens), and the hip-hop classic Play With Toys (Basehead).
The incredible thing about Hissing Fauna is that, despite trading in ‘60s Britpop influences for an album whose first half is influenced by early darkwave (see: early New Order, Depeche Mode) and latter half sounds more like the deeper funk of Prince, Of Montreal still sounds like Of Montreal. Consider a more straightforward version of Beck’s Midnight Vultures and you’ve got a loose idea of what the new album sounds like. Regardless, this set probably (err, hopefully) doesn’t have any songs ready to be destroyed in an Outback Steakhouse advertisement.
Of Montreal's "Heimdalsgate Like A Promethean Curse" NEW MUSIC VIDEO!
Local act Tussle opened the show with a 30-minute instrumental set. This popular San Francisco band, consisting of two percussionists, one bassist, and a keyboardist blend dub, electro, Afrobeat, and minimalist techno into a mix. Fans of bands like !!!, The Rapture, and LCD Soundsystem should check out Tussle. In fact, the first time I caught these guys they were opening a sold out show for !!! to much praise. While the crowd was only two-thirds capacity when Tussle opened the other day, the neo-raver kids proceded to dance in circles and got their early sweat on.
Main support came from Ariel Pink, a Los Angeles musician and friend of indie rock favorites, Animal Collective. My friend who was hearing Ariel Pink for the first time referred to him as “prog-lounge” and I can’t disagree with that assessment.
Tonight, Pink was backed by a full band playing a blend that sounded like a Las Vegas revue of Rush, with a heavy sprinkling of sound effects and screaming for good measure. Pink has an impeccable ear for melody, whose closest musical cousin might be Frank Zappa, and his unusual music captivated half of the crowd while leaving the rest scratching their heads. My posse were in the former party, in awe of the singer and his band, as they jammed through songs off of House Arrest, Worn Copy and several other lo-fi home recordings. The highlight came near the end of his 45-minute set when the band performed “Immune To Emotion”, which encapsulates the strongest elements of the artist. The next time Ariel Pink comes to town, I’ll be the first to line up.
When the lights went out to signal the arrival for Of Montreal, the kids went ape shit. Once the venue became luminous again, fans were treated to three projection screens: one with live footage, another with psychedelic, geometric images (servicing the more than a handful in the crowd who were clearly tripping balls), and the third that was a 'early '80s slide show for youth groups appropriated from a Baptist church (I made a failed attempt to understand the story line).
Finally, Kevin Barnes and the other 4 members from Of Montreal emerged in full glam regalia, complete with glitter make-up and polyester onesies. The site of this androgynous spectacle would surely make David Bowie a proud man. Even their instrument tech was glammed out!
“So Begins Our Alabee”, one of the stronger songs off of 2005’s The Sunlandic Twins, opened the show. With the entire crowd grinning ear to ear, and again dancing their White asses off the track set the tone for a 90 minute set of fun, smart dance-rock.
The two lead tracks off the critically acclaimed Hissing Fauna album, “Suffer For Fashion” and “Sink the Seine”, followed. I can’t recall the last time a band opened an album with such a strong one-two punch. Both sounded studio perfect during this performance.
What makes Of Montreal shows extra special is the ultra positive demeanor of the entire band. They’re ecstatic to be playing before a full room, often conjuring clapping, and singing along, when their hands are temporarily free. Additionally, between song banter from Barnes is absolutely hilarious (albeit completely absurd).
There were more than a few show highlights. Among them were performances of some of Of Montreal’s more popular songs including “I Was Never Young”, “Disconnect the Dots”, and what is sure to be on many writer’s Top Singles of 2007 list, “Heimdalsgate Like a Promethean Curse”. The power-pop B-side “Sweden” proved the most energetic song of the set.
However, it was when Of Montreal went above and beyond the realm of a touring band, and truly performed for the audience, that the show topped heights rarely seen by any other live act. During the hip-hop flavored “Oslo in the Summertime”, Barnes passed a Norwegian flag through the audience and asked the audience to pump their fists to support the Scandinavian nation (Why? Who knows! Everyone participated, and that’s what matters!)
The night’s biggest moment occurred during a performance of “Gronlandic Edit”. Halfway into their set, the lights dimmed. In no time, the band began performing the new song with Barnes, on some sort of ladder-like contraption, now donning a huge evening gown and a bird headdress. Barnes, androgynous as he already is, suddenly became a 10 foot tall woman, thus assuming the identity of the tranny who dominates the funk laden latter half of Hissing Fauna. Barnes danced during the song as much as he could (without injuring himself) while “holy shit” was whispered throughout the crowded venue. A truly epic, glam moment.
See the "Gronlandic Edit" performance here!
My only gripe is the absence of “The Past is a Grotesque Animal”, a brooding, 12-minute epic and one of the better new songs in their arsenal. Also oddly missing was the song mangled in the Outback Steakhouse ad, “Wraith Pinned To the Mist and Other Games”.
After the main set, the crowd stomped, screamed, and cheered louder than I’ve ever heard in this venue (even more so than when The Arcade Fire played there two years ago). Ever the showmen, Of Montreal reemerged for a three-song encore highlighted by crowd favorites “Forecast Fascist Future” and "Disconnect the Dots".
Of Montreal will continue to tour North America for the next couple months. If they visit a town near you, I highly suggest checking them out. Get your tickets early because it'll probably sell out.
See the "Forecast Fascist Future" performance here!
Of Montreal Tour Dates
2-13 - Las Vegas, NV - Art Bar
2-14 - Tuscon, AZ - Rialto
2-16 - Austin, TX - Emo's
2-17 - Houston, TX - Numbers
2-18 - Dallas, TX - Gypsy Ballroom
2-19 - Norman, OK - Meacham Auditorium @ Univ.of OK
2-20 - Lawrence, KS - Granada
2-21 - Columbia, MO - Blue Note
2-22 - Springfield, MO - Remington's Downtown
2-23 - Birmingham, AL - Bottletree
2-24 - Atlanta, GA - Variety Playhouse
3-5 - Carrboro, NC - Cat's Cradle
3-6 - Fall's Church, VA - State Theatre
3-7 - Clinton, NY - The Annex @ Hamilton College
3-8 - Philadelphia, PA - Trocadero
3-9 - New York, NY - Irving Plaza
3-10 - New York, NY - Irving Plaza
3-11 - Boston, MA - Avalon
3-12 - Montreal, QC - La Tulipe
3-13 - Toronto, ON - Opera House
3-14 - Detroit, MI - Magic Stick
3-15 - Chicago, IL - Cabaret Metro
3-16 - Minneapolis, MN - First Avenue
3-17 - Milwaukee, WI - Pabst Theatre
3-19 - Cleveland, OH - Beachland Ballroom
3-20 - Newport, KY - Southgate House
3-21 - Nashville, TN - Mercy Lounge
3-22 - Asheville, NC - Grey Eagle
3-23 - Columbia, SC - Headliners
3-24 - TBA
3-29 - Gainesville, FL - Abbey Road
3-30 - Miami, FL - Studio A
3-31 - Orlando, FL - The Club At Firestone
4-1 - Jacksonville, FL - Freebird Live
4-2 - Tallahassee, FL - The Moon
The 411: Of Montreal delivered a performance that would bring a smile to the faces of Ziggy Stardust-era Bowie fans. The effort put into the show proved that the band is in the upper tier of active live bands. A nearly perfect evening featuring three innovative bands.
