March 22- I thought after going to last year’s Bonnaroo I had seen every weird-ass thing there was to see at a concert.
I was wrong.
Athens, Ga., natives Of Montreal bring all the androgyny of Prince, the glam of Bowie and the fashion sense of a drag queen to a sold-out Grey Eagle in Asheville, N.C. Frocked in thigh-high fishnet stockings, cheerleader shorts, a Rocky Balboa toy championship belt and enough makeup to paint the Sistine chapel, lead-singer/guitarist Kevin Barnes, took to the stage with all the moxie of a cross-dresser on speed. Immediately Of Montreal bursts into “Suffer for Fashion” the opening track from their newest LP Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer ?
Keeping the pace up Of Montreal then tore through the next three tracks on Hissing Fauna, Are you the Destroyer? in succession – only taking time for Barnes to fellate the microphone in the middle of “Heimdalsgate Like a Promethean Curse.”
Ever one to keep things fresh, Barnes then decides to change his wardrobe (into what looks to be silver wrestler tights with a brown thong leotard) which would be a reoccurring theme throughout the night – until Barnes’ scrawny alabaster chest was displayed proudly for all to see. I should feel lucky that Barnes stopped the stripping with the shirt – as earlier in the tour while playing the “Art Bar” in Las Vegas he stripped down to a cummerbund and his birthday suit for several songs saying he wanted to “bring world peace to the Earth.”
Of Montreal’s glam style may steal the show but their indie-rock blended dance numbers added to what was already an experience like no other. Of Montreal’s harmonies were reminiscent of a Brian Wilson composition in “A Sentence Of Sorts in Kongsvinger” but that is where the comparison ends.
Of Montreal’s musical prowess went Prince to Bowie and back again in an instant by mixing synth and proto-punk-esque guitar.
With the new record and arguably one of the most peculiar stage shows Of Montreal looks to be next big things in the burgeoning indie-rock scene. The only thing that is slightly disturbing about this is the majority of the crowd at the Grey Eagle was made up of giggly Tiger Beat readers who were dropped off by their moms and/or dads. I am not saying that it is not nice to see younger people delving into a meaningful musical genre rather than your atypical TRL hits and rap – but when I have to stand beside teenagers that spend the majority of the show text messaging their friends and behind two teenagers that spent more time exploring each other’s bodies than listening to the music I get a little frustrated.
The presence of such a large teenie-bopper crowd only give more credence to what I have been saying for quite some time now – what happened to punk with bands like Good Charlotte, Yellow Card and Fall Out Boy is going to happen to indie-rock in the next year.
While I hope that Of Montreal succeeds in all their present and future endeavors selling more records than they ever have, I only hope they choose to go the Death Cab for Cutie route instead of that of Modest Mouse.

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