Wednesday, April 15, 2009

Photo Review: Of Montreal @ Sonar


Photos by Chrissy

Last night the mega show that is Of Montreal made a tour stop in Baltimore. Chrissy's photo set pretty much speaks for itself, as plenty of costumes, animations, and ridiculous antics were involved.

The band sounded pretty much as on point as they ever do, voyaging through an intense set that involved old favorites and new songs as well. Sonar was packed to the brim with excited patrons, as Of Montreal seem to have quite the following. Tiger masks, make-up by the gallon and all, the show was by all means entertaining.

Unfortunately, the same can't be said for the opening acts. My policy for this blog has always been if somethings sucks, don't write about it. We all know there's enough good stuff out there to focus on, why highlight the bad.

However, Fire Zuave and Inkwell made me completely regret getting to the show 2 hours before the headliner. At one point, I imagined a magical soundproof booth appearing before my eyes. You know, the ones that money flies around everywhere and you get to grab it. At another point, we saw some kids dancing next to us. At which, Annie turned to me and asked, "Do you think the band paid them to dance?"

The singer of Inkwell looked just like the dude from Smashmouth, and based on their sound I wouldn't be shocked if it actually was. My apologies to those involved, but they were just not my cup of tea I guess. Lesson: Don't show up to Of Montreal early again.

9 comments:

Chrissy said...

I'm still trying to figure out how they went from bands like MGMT and Grand Buffet to these openers... they didn't fit in at all. While I found Grand Buffet incredibly annoying at least I could tolerate them. Last night's openers were just a bizarre choice.
I miss Of Montreal from '04 or '05 or whatever year it was I saw them the first few times.

Kathy O. said...

I completely agree. Of Montreal sounded great and put on a really entertaining show. Can't wait to see them again.

on and off said...

the worst part is that inkwell is probably one of the loudest bands i've heard at sonar (or maybe it's where i was standing)

Anonymous said...

I think the bassist for Of Montreal is a guitarist in Inkwell, and Kevin Barnes has worked with Fire Zuave. It seems they just picked bands they knew personally.

Brett said...

Diego: Yes, they were incessantly loud for such a low-caliber and obnoxious act.

Anonymous: I think you're correct. I think it's great Of Montreal were allowed to pick their openers, but man, pick some with some talent or bands that at least sound remotely like you.

Annie D. said...

Inkwell reminded me of bad emo bands of the early 2000's. Enough Said.

Anonymous said...

i heard the sound was awful on main stage that night.

a trusted friend even said of montreal sounded better at RAMS HEAD of all places.

theatrics be damned if the music isn't there...

Brett said...

I wouldn't say the sound was perfect, but for a big show at Sonar seemed pretty fine to me. Vocals were a little low, but nothing too terrible.

I wasn't at the Rams Head show, so I can't compare.

Lauren said...

Yeah, this was no Rams Head show. The MGMT + OM combo last year was beautiful.

I suspect if one had inspected Inkwell's amps the other night, they'd've found them set to 11.