Broadway Glam Rock: Of Montreal at Carolina Theater

October, 13, 2008 , by David

Kevin Barnes is an obsessive showman like no other. The mid-thirties musician used the last decade to hone his sound into something so rich and psychedelic and yet sugar pop danceable. His band performed in the Triangle for the 4th time Tuesday night with a new member, but that wasn’t of Montreal’s biggest surprise for the evening. The first show of the tour, the Tuesday night show was suspicious from beginning, starting at 8pm, no opener, a message on the doors “BY ENTERING THIS THEATER YOU ARE CONSENTING TO BE FILMED.” What followed was one of the most theatrically inspired concerts offered by the band or any rock group, for that matter, ever.

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Of course it didn’t hurt that the show was in a theater, but right from the outset, it was obvious that Barnes and his cohorts were up to something. The staggered stage put the keyboardists and drummers up 4 and 8 feet above the floor. As the show progressed, a team of dancers/actors played out different scenes involving Kevin through what could only be described as a rainbow of memes. Starting with an old cowboy bar brawl through Barnes’ own hanging at the hands of 4 sparkling silver faced John McCains. of Montreal is well on its way to huge pop ubiquity and their showmanship is no small part of that.