The Subject Of Countless Masturbation Fantasies

of Montreal @ Music Hall of Williamsburg 12/16/2008

Id 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 / Bunny Ain’t No Kind Of Rider / Knight Rider / And I Saw A Bloody Shadow / Plastis Wafer / Beware Our Nubile Miscreants / Mingusings / Al Na Wayo / A Sentence Of Sorts In Kongsvinger // Gronlandic Edit / Oslo In The Summertime / American Girl (Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers cover)

Compared to of Montreal’s epic multimedia extravaganza at the Roseland Ballroom in October, this concert at the relatively tiny Music Hall of Williamsburg was a stripped down, lightly theatrical affair. That said, in comparison to the vast majority of bands on the touring circuit, the show was quite a spectacle. It all depends on your level of expectation, I suppose.

Without a doubt, it is more exciting and fulfilling to witness the full production of the group’s current show. It is undoubtedly a richer, more complete work of art, and the performance pieces and additional video art are funny, thoughtful, exciting, and add to or complement the lyrical themes. That said, the songs and the band’s performances are strong enough that it is not actually necessary for a satisfying concert experience. In some ways, the relative absence of spectacle made it easier to sink deep within the songs, and to emphasize a more personal experience with the material than to keep one’s mind focused on the narrative appearing on stage. Of course, much of the band’s appeal comes down to that sort of strong personal identification — ultimately, this is deep investment is why the audience is so fanatical and energetic.

of Montreal “Mingusings”

The first few verses of “Mingusings” rank among my favorite bits in Kevin Barnes’ body of work, in part for the very sound of it, but mostly because I find myself identifying closely with the words. I tend to relate to most of what Kevin writes, even when it’s rather far off from own life experience, but without explicating too much, there are a few lines in “Mingusings” that hit especially close to home, at least before they bounce off into another tangent. That bounce is part of what makes it work for me, though — it’s often enough to just echo something in your head, but it’s even better to push the thought to different conclusions, whether it’s wanting to fire all your friends and start your life over again, willing future triumph into existence, or inexplicably changing the topic to something about the intersection of technology and fiction.

Buy it from Polyvinyl Records.