Black Condom On A Vanilla Ice Cream Cone

of Montreal @ Roseland Ballroom 10/10/2008Id Engager / So Begins Our Alabee / Triphallus, To Punctuate! / She’s A Rejecter / For Our Elegant Caste / Touched Something’s Hollow / An Eluardian Instance / Heimdalsgate Like A Promethean Curse / Gallery Piece / Wraith Pinned To The Mist and Other Games / Women’s Studies Victims / St. Exquisite’s Confessions / Eros’ Entropic Tundra / Nonpareil of Favor / October Is Eternal / Wicked Wisdom / Disconnect The Dots / Knight Rider / And I’ve Seen A Bloody Shadow / Plastis Wafers / Beware Our Nubile Miscreants / Mingusings / A Sentence Of Sorts In Kongsvinger // Smells Like Teen Spirit / Gronlandic Edit

A year ago today, I saw of Montreal perform at the Roseland Ballroom. They debuted three songs that would eventually appear on Skeletal Lamping, and the first of those numbers was “St. Exquisite’s Confessions,” an approximation of an R&B slow jam that begins with the line “I’m so sick of sucking the dick of this cruel, cruel city.” It was very stunning in that moment, but it had nothing on what the band did with the song almost exactly a year later at the same venue: Kevin Barnes came out to sing the song wearing virtually nothing and riding a white horse. Everyone in the audience was stunned. Everyone. I mean, have you ever seen a live horse on stage at a concert? Exactly.

That’s where of Montreal is in 2008. They are a band who can routinely pull off — and then consistently improve upon! — a spectacular stage show that integrates a great deal of high concept performance art, and still be able to do something that can totally blow the minds of everyone in a very large venue. They can do that, and later on in the same show, do something that is arguably even more memorable: Play an intense version of “Smells Like Teen Spirit” second only to the version on Nevermind, and have the audience respond as if they were actually at a Nirvana concert. Everyone in the room was going bananas. Everyone.
of Montreal “Women’s Studies Victims” (Live at the 9:30 Club in Washington, DC 10/9/2008) – The most remarkable thing about the band’s current show is that they have fully integrated the performance art aspects of their concerts, to the point that a majority of the songs go along with some kind of elaborate set piece that correspond to the lyrical themes. It’s very much a production, and a work of art in and of itself. Barnes and his collaborators hit upon an ideal balance of sexuality, intellectualism, humor, raw emotion, and pure fun. It’s not a surprise to me that they’ve attracted so many extraordinarily enthusiastic young fans — I find myself deeply envious of every teenager and college kid who gets to see them and love them at a point where this sort of art can have so much influence on identity.
After the show, I was thinking a lot about how much Kevin Barnes pushes the envelope in terms of eroticizing himself on stage, and how much that shapes the audience’s relationship with his music. It’s rare, especially these days, and perhaps even more unusual given that Kevin is basically a straight guy, but the sexuality he projects is this sort of delicate pansexual masculinity. So much of the audience is in love with him, and it makes perfect sense. I mean, just think of all the girls — he is the perfect archetype of the sensitive, arty, skinny, stylish, effeminate yet somehow straight guy. He’s an unattainable dream for all sorts of people, as either a fantasy partner, or a fantasy version of one’s self. And keep in mind, he does all this while writing about fantasies and emotional turmoil and fluidity of identity in such a way to inspire deep identification within his listeners. He’s an incredibly powerful figure, in some ways that are calculated, but mostly it’s all a side effect of his talent and vision.
of Montreal “Triphallus, To Punctuate!” (Live at the 9:30 Club in Washington, DC 10/9/2008) – On top of the conceptual and visual elements of the show, the band has been improved greatly by moving away from programmed percussion, and embracing live drumming throughout the concert. This gives the music more power and oomph, particularly when there were two drummers going at once. Contrasted with the performances during the drum machine-centric Hissing Fauna shows from last year, the band seemed far more present and spontaneous, which contrasted nicely with the meticulously choreographed production. The grooves in these songs are too powerful to be held back by canned beats; it’s more effective and inspiring when it all feels fluid and alive. (Click here to buy Skeletal Lamping from Polyvinyl Records, and here to hear the band’s full concert in Washington, DC on the NPR site.)