I’ll start this off by saying that I am, by no means, a hardcore Of Montreal fan. I enjoy their songs, but can’t name any other than “Bunny Ain’t No Kind of Rider” and “Wraith Pinned To The Mist and Other Games.” Then again, it’s becoming increasingly difficult for me to memorize any song title or album names of bands of which I actually am a “huge” fan nowadays what with the days of popping in a CD and looking over the back of a case for track listings being exchanged for a digital collection which is all managed, listed, and organized by the great binary gods. Hell, even my MP3’s have mostly been replaced by web streaming.

Anyway, so this was my first Of Montreal concert after missing their two previous South Florida appearances at venues and dates I’m not remotely motivated to look up.

The music was fun, but in no way improved by the physical presence of the band. At times it felt like I was listening to a recording of a live concert. There was no energy emitted from the stage onto the general standing area, nor any connection, at all.

I suppose the biggest problem is the fact that their catalog is “hit or miss” for me. I adore some songs while others leave me bored; this concert consisted mostly of the latter. The songs that hit for me are, well, their hits (no pun intended and such). I enjoy the previously mentioned songs and the ones that everyone else knows. I’m sure that ruins my indie cred, but it’s the truth.

There were “theatrics” which fell flat and added nothing, from girls in diapers and bras (okay, so it wasn’t bad to stare at) to people standing around the stage crying, for reasons I’ll never understand. They also “hung” Kevin Bares from some pseudo cross thingy (pictured above), which the girls in front of me described as “totally insane” and I thought of as “boring.” Seriously, it went from side to side for a total displacement of maybe two feet, it wasn’t a big deal. I can’t forget to mention it was accompanied by someone waving around strobe lights which were flickering with a frequency far too low to simulate any kind of slowed motion.

There was one point when they attempted to reward the crowd with some sort of leaf blower-like device which sprayed feathers all over the place. At first it was novel, but then I realized how finely grained the particles were and realized it for what it really was: a cloud of dust and dirt and a perfect summary of the entire show.

After the concert ended and I walked towards my car, with feather fragments and dust irritating my contact lenses, I couldn’t help but feel like I went to see a band that I should have seen years ago at a time when their energy level may have been higher, playing a catalog that was less focused on being obscure and more concentrated on having fun and rewarding fans that may never watch them again; I sure won’t.