| MGMT live - the Powerstation, March 17th 2011. |
| Written by Sarah Mudgway |
| Sunday, 20 March 2011 23:44 |
 The last time Brooklyn-based MGMT played in New Zealand, the band was a two-piece riding high on the waves of success that their first album ‘Oracular Spectacular’ had produced, thanks to their incredibly catchy singles ‘Kids’, ‘Time To Pretend’ and ‘Electric Feel’. This time around, touring-turned-permanent members Will Berman, Matt Asti and James Richardson, rounded out the psychedelic-rock band to a quintet. MGMT's second album ‘Congratulations’ received mixed reviews with many fans confused by the lack of electro-pop singles - and instead of three sold-out nights at the Powerstation, this time MGMT could barely manage one. Oh, what a difference eighteen months can make. Straight off the bat, MGMT appeared more cohesive, more confident and more comfortable performing live. Opening with ‘Pieces Of What’ before launching into ‘Time To Pretend’, founding members Andrew VanWyngarden and Ben Goldwasser seemed far happier to be in New Zealand, and the video screen behind them illuminated with bright psychedelic colour patterns added a nice splash of energy.  As an album, 'Congratulations' is musically beautiful in its experimentation and throwback to the psychedelic 60’s. However, in a live setting softer tracks such as ‘It’s Working’ and ‘I Found A Whistle’ struggled to hold much of the audience’s attention. A girl in front of me commented that Andrew’s voice wasn’t strong enough to hold a venue the size of the Powerstation - a comment I disagree with for the most part, but can understand why one would think it. I guess first impressions do last and there will always be the people who see MGMT as an electro-pop act and will not appreciate their softer and arguably better songs. The tempo changes in ‘Flash Delirium’ matched with literal flashes of strobe lighting to create almost actual delirium worked well, and when VanWyngarden dedicated ‘Siberian Breaks’ to all the surfers in the crowd the overpowering smell of marijuana was a blatant reminder that MGMT are for the stoners, for the surfers, and for the dreamers.  What the band lacked in stage banter, they more than made up for in talent. James Richardson shifted from keyboards to lead guitar with ease, and drummer Will Bernan at one point simultaneously played the drums as well as a harmonica. Ending the main portion of their ninety-minute set with ‘Kids’ - the first and only track that was played entirely as a backing track - Andrew and Ben took centre stage while the rest of the band headed offstage. However, while their ‘karaoke’ performance of the song last time seemed lazy and uninspired, this time around Andrew and Ben seemed to approach the song with a much more light-hearted approach, jumping around on stage, grabbing any instrument they could find, and sharing cheeky smiles with each other and the enthused dance-party happening on the floor below them.  Returning to the stage for ‘Brian Eno’ and set closer ‘Congratulations’, if there was an award for most improved performance, MGMT would win hands down. Sadly, the same can’t be said for a section of the audience... there’s something ironic about an audience dressed in perfect indie/hippy attire - headscarfs, ponchos and all - however seeming to lack any interest or even respect for the beautiful sonic landscapes being created on stage by the very band they paid good money to see. Click HERE for more live MGMT photos.  |
