all photos by Dakota Fine
all words by Sepie Moini
…
Following a two-hour commute from Richmond to catch the completely sold out and free MGMT concert, I was greeted by my fellow BYT staff members and was ready for a solid show. The folks at Kia were serious about the start time of the performance. The band got right down to business at 8 o’clock sharp. I didn’t realize MGMT was onstage until they started to play “Pieces of What” as their second tune. This was largely due to the rather large sized Balti-sporting brahs (compliments to Peter) in front of me and the subpar soundcheck that may or may not have taken place.
The Brooklyn duo, accompanied with their touring bandmates, had a set list which comprised of some old and new jams. Apparently “some” really means a few songs since their entire set barely extended to 9 o’clock. An absence of alcohol replaced with an overabundance of Pepsi products may have heightened the obnoxiousness of the little ones bouncing around the room. Perhaps the brief routine was the band’s attempt at shipping the Moutain Dew-consuming high schoolers back into their mom’s Dodge Caravan.
MGMT managed to play their big hits (“Time to Pretend”, “Electric Feel” and “Kids”) in a moderately acceptable fashion. There lacked any sort of deviation from the album and the excessive echoing vocals did not help either. After a series of chants and clapping, the band weaseled their way back on stage for an encore which consisted of new songs no one knew.
Despite what Svetlana and Cale may have thought, I did not enjoy the show nearly as much as I had anticipated. This dampened experience was mostly contributed by the bro- and teenage-infested audience. Sorry Kia Collective/MGMT, possibly a restriction on double-layered ‘coste gear and an age limit may have made this gig more enjoyable.
Sepie, do you go to VCU too?
I have yet to hear anything good about MGMT’s live performances, and yet they keep selling out. I don’t get it.
September 22, 2009 at 3:10 pmYou know, I saw them during that infamous MGMT/Yeasayer backstage super sold out show a while back and it was awesome, and i don’t want to see them again so as not to taint my memories:
http://www.brightestyoungthings.com/live-dc/live-dc-yeasayermgmt-the-cat/
amanda – yeah i go to vcu. you missed nothing though. more like oracular crap-tacular.
September 22, 2009 at 3:23 pmTotally on point, Sepie.
September 22, 2009 at 3:35 pmYeah the Dan Deacon show ended at 8 sharp, sort of expected this one to go longer then an hour. It wasnt THAT bad except for maybe the overly touchy high school girls that made it kinda awkward. And yeah VCU yeah!!!
September 22, 2009 at 3:43 pmsepie, i didn’t think i missed anything. mgmt have two good songs on the album and even those aren’t worth putting in the effort to see them live.
are you involved with rva or the smc? if not, you should consider it.
September 22, 2009 at 3:46 pmew… honestly, i wanna say, i had never seen MGMT before, and while i agree that the show was lackluster, i don’t think it had anything to do with the band. the band is awesome. MGMT is a band that is living the indie rock dream, and i love them for it. i love their music, i love their attitude, and i love that they have defied the music industry to achieve pop-stardom.
if you want to pick a bone Sepie, pick it with the production company. by my estimations Cornerstone Productions mismanaged this show in a variety of ways. including telling photographers that they could shoot only after the first three songs, when really it was only the first three songs we could shoot, they were hostile to the organizations they partnered with.
the only winners here were KIA. and according to the bottom line, that’s all that matters in the eyes of the promoters and producers of this event.
the bands are at a real disadvantage, this is the music economy we live in now people. they HAVE to play huge free shows in a shitty warehouse on the edge of town that is ill-equipped for light and sound because no one pays for music anymore besides corporations who want to cozy up to a specific, hip and young demographic.
but please, stop shitting on MGMT, it’s not their fault. the crowd was terrible. the tickets were free. the venue was too big. the production company was headed up by a troll. IT WAS ALL TO SELL CARS.
we all got to get together and see an awesome band play a warehouse show. if they had hired 930 club staff (I.M.P.?) the show would have been much more properly run.
i for one, definitely will go see MGMT play again at my first possible opportunity, because they are way better and way bigger than a KIA show.
sorry Sepie, love you man, but this review annoys me.
September 22, 2009 at 3:46 pmAll I have to say is I saw MGMT at Coachella. The crowd was going wild and they were AMAZING! I agree with Dakota.
September 22, 2009 at 4:01 pmim all for being positive, but what is your point Dakota?
Sepi had a bad time and thought the band was phoning it in. Like you said, the whole event was corporate hell. If he hated it, how’s he supposed to polish a turd?
MGMT can still be a good band and put on a terrible live show every now and then.
i wasnt there so i dont know. mad men is the best thing ever.
September 22, 2009 at 4:08 pmwell, my point is, i don’t think they phoned it in… !
i think the show sucked, i agree with Sepie in that regard, but i don’t think it was MGMT’s fault. that’s all…
and excessively critical reviews bug me. i think it’s easier to hate than to stand up and say, this band is tight, and i’ll stand by them. we all have off nights, but i’m willing to wager that this band is better than that. and i don’t think that was conveyed in Sepie’s write up, so here i am, conveying it.
:ppp
September 22, 2009 at 4:17 pmD: There’s a difference between saying you disagree and telling him to “stop shitting on MGMT” though. I only write positive reviews myself but if i went to a big top-billed show of a big band and thought they sucked loudly i would have to say it rather than bullshit.
Bands dont get excuses, if youre on stage–bring it everytime even if yr playing the damn Kids Choice awards. It’s your job to be amazing live, so if you cant do it, stay in the studio with XTC and Donald Fagen.
I’m ruling in favor of the defendent because he referred to my favorite haircut in the review. Sorry Dakota you are… the weakest link. ;-x
September 22, 2009 at 4:26 pmfor what it’s worth, i know for a fact that sepie LOVES mgmt, that he really wanted this show to be awesome and that i for one, was surprised it was a negative review meaning that it must not have been a fun time at all.
i will say, if you’re not into playing big corporate events and dealing with all that goes with it, and are not going to give it your all (esp. since the show being free it allowed some of your fans that would not normally be able to afford the 25 dollar show ticket to attend) then-you should just not play them, as opposed to phone it in.
September 22, 2009 at 4:31 pmmy friend saw them live and said it was the worst show he’d ever seen in his life. ever. in his life. and he’s a huge fan. give credit where it’s due and discredit, the same.
September 22, 2009 at 4:44 pmXTC and Donald Fagen in the same sentence, ftw.
September 22, 2009 at 4:49 pmi wasn’t really telling “him” to “stop shitting on MGMT”… i think i was perhaps more pleading to a collective whole to stop, because i would like to redirect our ire towards the production company rather than the band.
i had a bad experience at the show. it was not because of MGMT, it was because of cornerstone promotion/management, who i thought did a horrible job of producing an event.
i blame cornerstone.
September 22, 2009 at 4:56 pm@Dakota: Cornerstone people were hostile to you? I’m very surprised by that. You might be mistaking the wee balding guy with the Cornerstone badge as part of their crew — the guy who talked to you while you were shooting in front of the barrier; that guy was MGMT’s tour manager, not a CS contractor or staff. He was a crowned cunt for sure.
overall I don’t think the event itself was all that poorly run. although people seemed confused by the set times and schedules, they pretty much stuck to what the flyer said. the shuttle service thing seemed like a total F tho, but the sound and lighting were straight. the place was gigantic (and yes, a little out of the way) but I’d rather overdo it on space than under do it. I don’t think there was anything intolerable for the musicians or crowd, considering the former got paid decently and the latter got a free show.
But back to the tour manager: he was a hostile, unfriendly little gnome. wouldn’t surprise me if the first 3/after first 3 confusion was just his munchkin ass having a laugh.
September 22, 2009 at 5:05 pmI was there too, and while the crowd was pretty terrible, the MGMT just isn’t good live. I went in with low expectations because I had heard that before, and they still weren’t good. The crowd was skewed pretty young, but MGMT just didn’t have any energy or stage presence.
I said this the other day: I still maintain that MGMT have 3 brilliant songs, and the rest are solidly mediocre. But those three songs are pretty great.
I thought the production was pretty good. Where else were they going to find space for something like that in DC and still have room for cars/test driving? It’s not like the typical DC venues have the room or an open schedule. At the end of the day this was a promotional event for a car company, we just happened to get free shows out of it.
I do agree with some of the complaints about the schedule though. Set times were posted on the Kia Collective site, but apparently there was a lot of misinformation out there. Hence kids showing up after Wale/Dan Deacon.
September 22, 2009 at 5:18 pm@Ben
I was told that the kids showing late to Wale and Deacon took the shuttle. Am happy to blame MGMT’s tour manager for that too.
September 22, 2009 at 5:28 pm@dakota “the bands are at a real disadvantage, this is the music economy we live in now people. they HAVE to play huge free shows in a shitty warehouse on the edge of town that is ill-equipped for light and sound because no one pays for music anymore besides corporations who want to cozy up to a specific, hip and young demographic.”
you’re totally right, 15 years ago the music landscape was oozing with hip young bands like MGMT who were so rich they never of had to play shows like this. everything was so much better for every musician back then. But now?! In THIS economy?!!
September 22, 2009 at 5:29 pm@dan – I don’t know about “so rich” but 15 years ago, in ‘94, the independent/DIY music scene was pretty thick and diverse. Hip hop finally became a universally legitimized genre with artists like Pete Rock becoming big deal producers, Puffy a mogul and Wu Tang on the bubble. Thanks to Nirvana (say what you will) alot of rock oriented groups began getting alot of attention also. On the EDM tip Drum and Bass was creeping as were EDM producers in general. Even beyond music, events like X Games and street fashion labels like Triple 5 Soul helped to bring to light aspects of “underground” or “street/hip” culture that would normally fade away (eg. No Wave scene) and wait to be rediscovered by the next generation of hip culture nerds — or cashed in on by it’s ..erm … elders (eg. No Wave scene). The landscape was plenty full of talent, the difference was the lack of corporate influence back then.
September 22, 2009 at 5:47 pmI think MGMT had the cards stacked against them to start, with the half-empty venue that had been decorated according to demographic research, but they still gave off the air of people showing up to collect a paycheck with almost no enthusiasm. I figured it was the nature of the event, but from what I’m reading it seems this is par for the course from them.
Anyway, I knew we were doomed when I saw the giant banner that had KIA in faux-graffiti art. I’m not one to complain about a free concert too much though. They’ve got some good songs and they played a crap show. It happens.
September 22, 2009 at 6:09 pm@Amanda
no i don’t write for rva or smc.
September 22, 2009 at 6:13 pmdefinitely not saying there was a lack of non-mainstream talent in 94. college radio was thriving, a lot ground work was being set for the stuff we love now, all stipulated. But (a) corporations/”the man” have been using hip young bands to make money at least since Woodstock (69), and i’m sure sooner, the fundamentals of the music economy haven’t changed much there; (b) i have no proof of this, but i’d confidentally bet more “hip young” bands were making comfortable livings now than before the internet doomed physical sales (hurt the top end sure, but created a much fatter tail, but just a theory); and the MOST IMPORTANT (c) a blog post about whether MGMT played a good show at an all ages event sponsored by a third tier car company on a sunday afternoon in a bumfuck warehouse is not really the time to bust out platitudes about “the music economy we live in now.”
This whole discussion is simple – high school kids are annoying (unless you are one), shows without alcohol < shows with booze, concert venues are better places for large shows than warehouses. no need to bring "the world we live in" into this
September 22, 2009 at 6:13 pmI almost got into at least 5 fights with the really obnox group of tweens near front-center. I hope I’m giving them the stink eye in every one of the 500 pictures they took of their glitter-ridden selves during the show.
September 22, 2009 at 6:44 pm@dan – not sure I buy point (a) — since Woodstock? no agreement there — but you’re right on with (b). That long tail democratizes liking nothing else. I’m a big fan. Here’s a link to an interesting tangent on that tip – http://www.bunniestudios.com/blog/?p=284
Ima let you and D hug it out over the rest tho.
September 22, 2009 at 6:52 pmDC people complain oh so much. its a free fucking show! Enjoy it for what it is, this band wasn’t even known until a year ago– if you were expecting to be blown away then youre trippin. the crowd? if they werent you young, im sure someone would white about how they dont dance enough or arent cool enough.
September 22, 2009 at 7:01 pm@Landon … that rant would have made more sense had you proof read it
September 22, 2009 at 8:10 pmno one in DC is cool enough. I thought that had been established forever ago.
no one in richmond is cool either.
September 22, 2009 at 9:09 pm@Amanda
any affiliation with rva mag or smc? anyone doing concert reviews in the richmond area? let me know.
September 22, 2009 at 10:02 pmi am facebooking you. i’m sure we have friends in common. this is ridiculous.
September 22, 2009 at 10:30 pmYesh and yesh. It’s not the criticisms leveled at MGMT that irk me here. It’s the overwhelming lack of empathy for the younger crowd. WTF?
Do you remember having to get fake IDs to go to 18-21+ shows when you were 16? That sucked dick. The energy at shows comes from young ones, who, while maybe afflicted with hyper self-awareness, can usually shed their hesitations much quicker than the 20-30 somethings who have a multitude of other responsibilities/insecurities that don’t relate solely to their acne. Baltimore shows are fun as shit because they’re young. DC shows, while conducive to maximum personal space and comfort, are plagued by lackluster crowd engagement.
I’m not hating on DC, I’m taking issue with the lack of all-ages shows here, and this thread reveals the considerable annoyance with even the prospect of them. I wasn’t at this MGMT show but I wish there were more like it.
September 23, 2009 at 11:44 am@baird
i agree with your sentiment but i’m confused by your “lack of all ages shows” comment. like every show in dc is all ages. 930 club, black cat are all ages and velvet lounge says they are 18+ but it’s really all ages. that’s what’s so cool about dc shows. much more fun when there are young kids who are actually into it instead of standing there with their arms crossed.
September 23, 2009 at 3:20 pmI went to an MGMT show in the summer of 2008 @ 930 club in washington DC. I was 14 at the time, it was fucking awesome. Anyone that went to this show shouldn’t care about the people that were there, MGMT has been my favorite band for almost two years now. They put on great shows and anyone who was there should be so happy they got to be in the presence of this great band.
September 23, 2009 at 9:20 pm@ d
Take a look at the Velvet’s calendar. 7 of the next 10 shows are 21+. You’re right about BC and prob 930 club. I guess my frustration was with the annoyance those showed towards the idea of all ages shows.
September 24, 2009 at 6:37 pmI suspect that if you knew more than just their hits, you would have enjoyed it more. The second encore was The Handshake off of Oracular Spectacular, and not a new song as you stated.
September 29, 2009 at 11:07 am
Their tour manager can eat a musky dick for life.
September 22, 2009 at 3:07 pm