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As the crowd at Paradise Rock Club anticipated the presence of indie-pop band of Montreal Saturday night, a satanic hologram was projected onto the stage, followed by a group of figures wearing shadowy black cloaks.
“What have you gotten me into?” a friend yelled from the crowd.
The first note played and the darkness of the Paradise transformed into psychedelic, colorful energy. Lead singer Kevin Barnes wore an over-the-top, but nonetheless spectacular, androgynous costume, which proceeded to change four times throughout the entire concert. Each new outfit was more extravagant than the last.
The band was founded by Barnes in 1996 in Athens, Georgia where it debuted its first album, “Cherry Peel.” From the start, the group’s sound was flamboyant, psychedelic indie-pop. As they grew, the band changed members several times, but Barnes always remained at the head.
The concert focused on their new album released in August, “Innocence Reaches,” which is the band’s 14th record. While the album stays true to their synth-based, indie-pop roots, “Innocence Reaches” shifts the sound into an even more upbeat, new direction of contemporary EDM. And while of Montreal has always been known for the extravagance of their live shows, the energy off their new album elevates the experience even further.
Opening for of Montreal was the indie-folk band Ruby the RabbitFoot. The opening act was a set of enjoyable, relaxed songs played to a low-energy crowd. There were no outlandish projections, just lead singer Ruby Kendrick and her band crooning about love and heartbreak. Kendrick sported her signature choppy, eccentric blonde haircut while she smiled and told jokes to tame the impatient crowd. All songs were off of their album “Divorce Party.”
Then came the insanity.
As synth beats shook the crowd from of Montreal’s first song, the modern line from the album’s first song “let’s relate” asked everyone, “How do you identify?” The question opened up the space to its answer, “let’s relate!” and suddenly everyone was one with Barnes, who ran around the stage entrancing everyone with his high-pitched vocals and gender-mystifying outfits.
With each song, of Montreal became a cast of spectacular, extravagant visuals along with the music. Eccentric-looking dancers gyrated against one another, sometimes dressed as translucent butterflies, while other times grouped together to form a giant, otherworldly animal. At one point one of the characters on the stage showed up adorning a giant penis costume with a Donald Trump mask.
of Montreal’s hit, “Wraith Pinned to the Mist and Other Games,” had Barnes yelling for the audience to “pretend we don’t exist.” And to that, everyone — including the band members — jumped along to a chorus of, “Let’s pretend we’re in Antarctica!”
The song encapsulates everything that makes up an of Montreal concert, because for those two hours, Paradise Rock Club became a dancing space of love, sweat and acceptance. It was a land of make-believe. Barnes took the crowd on an extravagant journey, and the audience was full of energy every step of the way.
When it came time for the show to end, Barnes closed the night with an encore cover of David Bowie’s “The Man Who Sold the World.” He had the crowd in the palm of his hand, and for the length of that song, the man in the song was Barnes.
