This past weekend fellow Pure Popper Amelia and I went to UVM to check out Of Montreal. As usual, they played their songs well, offering a bizarre and entertaining visual component, complete with psychedelic animations and costumed dancers. I really enjoyed a moment towards the end of the show when one of the dancers, dressed as Death, set up a chess board and proceeded to play with Kevin Barnes as he sang.

Unfortunately, the performance was at a gym. Every two years or so, I go to a gym concert just to remind myself to avoid them. Everything ends up sounding blown-out and muddy. Even with a great band like Of Montreal, I just don’t think shows in that kind of setting are worth it. I’m frankly baffled it’s standard practice to host music at gymnasiums. It’s analogous to playing baseball in an opera house.

The crowd seemed to really enjoy the show. They danced in that inept-but-charming New England college student way. (No offense to New England college students. You could all “serve” me.) As anything that takes place outside the confines of my bedroom usually does, the show made me feel old and out-of-touch. What is the relationship undergrads have with Of Montreal? Did their older siblings show them Satanic Panic in the Attic when they were in middle school? Do they love the Outback version of “Wraith Pinned to the Mist and Other Games“?

Over the course of the show, I observed someone wearing a tie-dyed Depeche Mode shirt, which is ridiculous. There were two gentlemen dressed identically down to their shoes, the most interesting thing about that being how innocuously bland they were dressed, like bankers on casual Friday. Someone threw an apple with one bite taken out of it by our feet. A girl wearing just a bit too little circled our area like a satellite, dancing for a few minutes as she looked around, seemingly yearning for someone to notice. (I did, sweetie.)

I look forward to seeing them again at a proper venue that will do them justice.