REVIEW: MGMT, Matthew Dear @ Orpheum Theatre 03/16

Psychedelic indie rockers MGMT performed at the Orpheum Theatre on Friday, March 16 as part of a tour for their latest album, Little Dark Age, released in February.

Setting the stage for MGMT was Michigan-based producer and DJ Matthew Dear. His music would not have been out of place in the ‘80s, featuring deep vocals and reverberated guitars reminiscent of the new wave movement. Despite being alone on stage with only a guitar and a couple of synthesizers, Dear easily filled the venue with sound. The backing beats were repetitive and trancelike, and overall Dear’s set was a great precursor to that of the headliners.

MGMT took to the stage, which was adorned with plants, in a dramatic fashion: they walked out to the sounds of a medieval lute, backed by a multitude of flashing strobe lights. Studio members Andrew VanWyngarden and Ben Goldwasser were joined on stage by guitarist James Richardson, bassist Simon O’Connor, and drummer Will Berman. They opened with the title track from Little Dark Age, a synthpop tune with a driving beat that sounded vaguely new wave in the same vein as their openers. The visuals were a definite highlight of the show; although the images were concentrated on a small screen behind the band, they extended to the entire backdrop of the theatre.

MGMT have produced a handful of far-reaching hit singles, and they played one of them, “Time to Pretend” from their 2007 debut album Oracular Spectacular, early in the set, wasting no time before getting to what a large portion of the audience was there to hear. The visuals for this track included a 3D-animated deer running through a futuristic forest. During Little Dark Age’s “She Works Out Too Much,” frontman VanWyngarden brought an exercise bike onto the stage and proceeded to nonchalantly ride it for the entirety of the song; he was backed by clips of workout videos from the ‘80s. During their 2013 self-titled album’s “Alien Days,” VanWyngarden alternated between singing into low- and high-pitched microphones. For Little Dark Age cut “When I’m Small,” VanWyngarden and Goldwasser switched to acoustic guitars and played while sitting at the front of the stage, the visuals now simply a livestream of Goldwasser’s face.

Despite their onstage antics, MGMT made little effort to interact with the audience, offering almost no quips to the eager crowd. Nevertheless, the fans seemed to be having a great time, going wild during Oracular Spectacular’s smash hit “Electric Feel.” The band kept the energy up with “James,” a disco-sounding track from Little Dark Age, and “TSLAMP” (which stands for “Time Spent Looking At My Phone”) from the same album, accompanied by stock footage of smartphones. They closed out their main set with their most famous song, “Kids,” from Oracular Spectacular. To the delight and amazement of much of the audience, during the bridge they segued into the theme from 1984 children’s fantasy film The Neverending Story before seamlessly returning to finish the rest of their song.

For their encore, MGMT performed “Hand It Over” from Little Dark Age followed by “Weekend Wars” from Oracular Spectacular. VanWyngarden encouraged the crowd to make some more noise, one of his only remarks to the audience all night. The visuals at this point resembled those of a disco ball and were projected all over the venue, extending beyond the backdrop of the stage and onto the sides of the theatre. Although they didn’t talk to the crowd too much, MGMT put on a great show.

-Leonora Telford