Review: of Montreal Brings Freewave to the Main Stage

 

☆ BY Joey Povinelli ☆

 
 

BEFORE OF MONTREAL’S CHIEF AUTEUR — Kevin Barnes, takes the stage, the audience is graced by the presence of Lanc, a luchador mask and spandex-wearing hype man who transitions the crowd from the ordinary world to the theatrical. LA’s The Regent’s stage, built in 1914, is the ideal venue for the showmanship that is about to proceed. Anticipation builds as the audience waits for Barnes’ arrival. 

For over 25 years, of Montreal has toured and released music at a rapid and consistent pace. Never content with staying put, their genre shifts with the seasons and mindsets of Barnes. They’ve done twee, glam rock, and Moroder-esque disco, but these explorations never feel like a shallow homage — the sound is always distinctly Barnes, with melodies and structures no other artist would dare attempt. Their lyrics are equally complex, ranging from deeply personal mental breakdowns and absurd characters to their current Freewave Lucifer f<ck f^ck f>ck era of patched-together psychedelia.

With of Montreal, music is only half the battle — they are fighting a war for aesthetics with interconnected album artwork, costumes, and entire personas. Tour is where these improbable musical worlds come to life, and in of Montreal’s latest performance, they give freewave an immersive visual.

Barnes takes the stage in a blue wig, akin to Marge Simpson after the beauty salon, and a dazzling sequined dress. The room’s energy is immediately focused. Their vocals are precise to the record while being alive in the moment. In the front row, an international traveler, with tickets from the event’s original 2020 date, has returned to the city to see his favorite band live for the first time. When of Montreal connects with you, it’s not halfway. 

Most of the setlist is from of Montreal’s two sister albums, I Feel Safe With You,Trash and Freewave Lucifer f<ck f^ck f>ck. Both exist in Barnes’ freewave approach, which is constructed of different fragmented sources to create a new whole of expressed subconsciousness. On stage, Barnes distills these records to their rock essence, as they sing and play guitar with a four-piece backing band supporting the usual: drums, bass, keys, and guitar. The selections of older material throughout of Montreal’s expansive catalog are chosen to gel with the new material — it’s never the same setlist and stage design. Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer? album closer, “We Were Born the Mutants Again with Leafling,” makes a welcome return from previous years’ absence; the White is Relic/Irrealis Mood cuts “Soft Music” and “Paranoiac Intervals” continue to hit hard. 

It will be interesting to see which songs from this era continue onto future setlists. “Aries Equals Good Trash” has a danceable groove and chorus in which Barnes shows off his vocal acrobatics; “Blab Sabbath Lathe of Maiden” has classic Barnes backing melodies and rapid musical changes, and the synth line in “Nightsift” already feels iconic.

In addition to the musicians, Barnes is joined by three dancers who inhabit different themed outfits, featuring BDSM gimp suits, LED masks, owls with light-up wings that encase Barnes, and a spectacular sequin-covered beast. They inhabit roles from friends and tempests to antagonizers.

When the set closes out with of Montreal’s triple-threat classic “The Party’s Crashing Us Now,” “Gronlandic Edit,” and “Heimdalsgate Like a Promethean Curse,” the crowd enters transcendent bliss. The encore is accompanied by an endlessly long balloon used for bending into animals, which crowd-surfs through The Regent like a psychedelic snake wrapping us closer together into the total, unapologetic world of Montreal.

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