History won't ring true for MGMT. In 2008, the year their debut record
Oracular Spectacular was released, they'll be remembered for the three massive singles that have by now surely infiltrated even the most remote Western Australian mine. Like any band with songs so ubiquitous they've seeped into mainstream culture by osmosis - clubs, rock venues, shops, airlines...you name it - the knee jerk reaction from the hipsters is to not be able to see past this immediate veneer and assign them to the "fad" bin. Which, undoubtedly will happen.
It's an unjust shame because MGMT have a strong album's worth of clever, sophisticated psych and prog rock. Plus them pop "hits". And with just one album under their belt, it's by default that this experimental side so heavily influences their live show.
WIth over an hour to cover - and a stage decked out like the surreal desert scenes from the Mighty Boosh - the band seesawed between epic guitar solo wig outs and synthy ponderings as they stoicly counted down the album, track by track. It's not a natural route to take but it was fun, even if it didn't all work.
The opening trio of 'Of Birds, Moons and Monsters', 'Future Reflections' and '4th Dimensional Transition' was a slow start, sitting awkwardly with the seething, electrified (and young) crowd. 'Pieces of What' was the first to really flick the 'sing-a-long' switch on the masses and it seemed to wake the band out of their funk. Frontman Andrew VanWyngarden isn't exactly Captain Showman and at times he and his sidekick Ben Goldwasser seemed almost troubled by the adulation being thrown their way. They play the arena as if they're in their bedroom. Or maybe it's just they're a little beaten from the last 14 months on the road. (Their Meredith Festival slot on Saturday is their final show before taking a break). Scene chewing contemporaries like Flaming Lips and Of Montreal they're not.
The effortless pop gem of 'Time to Pretend' duly sent the floor off, before the band threw themselves headlong into the 14 minute opus 'Metanoia'. It's here that the band showcased their prog leanings, taking a bemused crowd through metal, acid-folk and stadium rock all in the one, long movement. As if to apologise for the EP track comedown the slinky, stop-start rhythm of 'Electric Feel' followed and the throng wet themselves. Finishing with 'Handshake Drugs' the band left the stage, before returning in the shadows to the pre-recorded backing track of 'Kids'. Three thousand people went bananas as the five-piece band - now free of instruments - flitted, strutted and sang karaoke on stage like a bunch of goofballs. It was a fitting, celebratory to one of the most anticipated sets of the year. By a band who seem to be content inspiring themselves as much as they do the audience, even if it's not all pop hits and dance anthems. May the scornful hipsters and indenti-kit tweens find out as much in the long run.