Of Montreal has released new music every year for the last eight years and for the last five of those years, they've gone on tour. Since 2013 the experimental uniform from Georgia has played at least once a year in San Francisco but their current tour in support of their latest release, White Is Relic/Irrealis Mood brought them to The UC Theatre in Berkley last week.
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| Of Montreal @ The UC Theater Berkeley 5/3/2018 photo by Marc Fong |
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| Of Montreal @ The UC Theater Berkeley 5/3/2018 photo by Marc Fong |
Kevin Barnes hit the stage looking like a modernized 1960's housewife in athleisure wear. Between his lo-key drag attire changing every few songs and his animated performance along with the rotating entourage of characters that joined the band on stage, Of Montreal did a great job at keeping fans entertained a part from their music. That's what they do.
And then of course, there is the music.
A leisurely hybrid of indie and psych-rock coupled with afore mentioned costume changes and company make for a trippy live show. The type of indie that is part of their sound reminds me of The Cure. It's very close to indie music's purest form, especially now as the genre spawns more and more sub-genres. Of Montreal's psychedelic influence is bold but not in the jammy sense. It's hypnotic, putting you in a trance where you find songs bleeding into each other. Seeing Of Montreal live is like falling down the rabbit hole and landing in Wonderland.
Thursday night's set started with with "Id Engager" from their 2008 album, Skeletal Lamping which got some people dancing and others murmuring why and how more people were not dancing. "Paranoiac Intervals/Body Dysmorphia" was the first new song heard that night and while fans enjoyed old favorites the mood didn't alter when new music was played.
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| Of Montreal @ The UC Theater Berkeley 5/3/2018 photo by Marc Fong |
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| Of Montreal @ The UC Theater Berkeley 5/3/2018 photo by Marc Fong |
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| Of Montreal @ The UC Theater Berkeley 5/3/2018 photo by Marc Fong |
The set mostly highlighted their work from 2007 and 2008 from their 15 album catalogue with a couple songs from 2016's Innocence Reaches and 2017's Rune Husk and every song from White Is Relic/Irrealis Mood intermittently sprinkled in.
Berkeley is runner up to SF when it comes to accepting individuality, so naturally Of Montreal and their fans fit right in. Barnes' is a natural on-stage, the band flowed with all the shenanigans going on around them and the fans were definitely feeling their flow.
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| Of Montreal @ The UC Theater Berkeley 5/3/2018 photo by Marc Fong |
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| Of Montreal @ The UC Theater Berkeley 5/3/2018 photo by Marc Fong |
Kevin Barnes will be (back) in San Francisco for a Noise Pop show at The Swedish American Hall on May 25th! Find out what his solo act is like and get your tickets to that show today.
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| Of Montreal @ The UC Theater Berkeley 5/3/2018 photo by Marc Fong |
Of Montreal set-list 5/3/2018
1. Id Engager
2. Gronlandic Edit
3. Paranoiac Intervals/Body Dysmorphia
4. Plastis Wafer
5. Writing the Circles/Orgone Tropics
6. Sex Karma
7. If You Talk To Symbol/Hostility Voyeur
8. Wraith Pinned in the Mist (and Other Games)
9. Sophie Calle Private Game/Every Person Is a Pussy
10. It's Different for Girls
11. Plateau Phase/No Careerism No Corruption
12. Come Wander With Me (Bonnie Beecher cover)
13. Soft Music/Juno Portraits of the Jovian Sky
14. For Our Elegant Caste
15. Touched Something's Hollow
16. An Eluardian Instance
17. A Sentence of Sorts in Kongsvinger
en core
18. Bunny Ain't No Kind of Rider
19. Gallery Piece
20. Let's Relate
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