So a couple of Wednesdays ago, Michelle and I went to see MGMT at London's fabled venue the Astoria on Charing Cross Road. The disappointment started before we got into the building when a security guard informed the lineup that despite the 7:30 door opening, the headliners wouldn't be on until after 10pm due to the Champions League final that night. I think I was more annoyed that I couldn't watch the game because the nearby pubs were packed, then the late start time, but I've just never been in a situation where a band delays its performance due to a sporting event.
The opening bands were largely forgettable, although Florence and the Machine brought an interesting sound and aesthetic to the performance, I'll to take a closer listen to their stuff to form a proper judgment about them.
The headliners however were a major disappointment. Probably the most disappointing gig I have ever seen. Now to be honest, I had hyped them up in my head a lot because their debut album (Oracular Spectacular) is a masterpiece of all styles of rock and pop. Unfortunately they couldn't pull it off on stage. MGMT is comprised of a Brooklyn duo, and that is what I was expecting live (kind of like I Was a Cub Scout), instead, what I got was a stage full of session musicians. Now initially I didn't think this would be a problem, especially when the lead singer stepped on stage in full 70s attire complete with hippy dress/shirt, headband, and indian war paint. I thought I was in for a kick ass rock show. What I received was a limp performance that attempted to reproduce the album to a T. Granted while singles "Electric Feel" and "Time to Pretend" injected some life to their corpse of a set, MGMT suffered from the same problem that Iron and Wine did a week previous in that session musicians just don't bring the presence required for a large live show, especially when the non-session musicians (i.e. singer and keyboardist) don't have enough stage presence and charisma to carry the show without help. I'm slightly ashamed to admit that we didn't stay for the finale or the encore, but it would have been just too much to bear.
So while I will continue to rave about the attributes of MGMT's album, I would not recommend them for a live show until they've got their act together, especially not at 2000+ seat venues.
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