Whoa

Suffice it to say: I’ve been to a lot of rock shows, but I can say with absolute certainty that the “Of Montreal” show that I saw last night at the Pabst Theater sits clearly in the #1 spot on the “whoa” scale. I can’t even think of who #2 might be.

While the front half of the stage was left open (for crazy antics, of course), the back was split into three parts with “towers” on left and right for drums and keyboards and a middle area containing a rotating screen for people to change and prepare behind. Here you can see Kevin Barnes making his initial entry after being carried in by… uh… well, look at the picture:

(thanks JNo for the pics)

You can also see in that pic the three large screens behind the stage that alternated between cartoon imagery, video footage, and live footage — all (I assure you) were somewhere in the range of funny/zany/strange.

There’s no way that I could recap all of the craziness in detail but basically every 2nd song had a skit of some sort to go with it. That’s on top of the fact that Barnes was as close to naked as you can get without breaking the law for 75% of the show. Here are some of the highlights that I brain-dumped last night when I got home:
- a fist fight

- wild west scene with a poker game and shoot out.

- war scene with fatigues

- cardinal (priest) with a nun putting stilletos on him and massaging his feet while he condemns a giraffe with a thumbs down

- kills himself by OD. then gun. (maybe be some others?). then hangs himself. They actually do put him on a gallows and kick out the stool while he has not only the rope around his neck but also something attached to his back.

- roller skater (guy, right?) with shaved legs and a bra

- “skin suits” from a couple of pairs. one with some pubic hair.

- “giant” where one person comes out with a big head. two others with one giant arm each and other two have legs. joined in center

- centaur

- pose-able people are positioned (in “compromising” positions, of course)

- bring him out in a coffin covered in shaving cream (?)

- with very red lighting going on stage they appear to be rubbing oil all over him. with the next song there is a lighting change and you realize they painted him red.

- 1 with keyboard (etc) player – top with a drum kit. on the right side there is only a top level (another drum kit). the middle has a screen that they change/setup behind before revolving it.

- he’s basically naked for 3/4 of the show.

- cover of Teen Spirit