MGMT @ McCarren Park Pool

Do you ever walk into a record store and get attracted to an album for no particular reason, only to have that album become one of your all-time favorites? It’s only happened to me a few times (and it’s happened far less often recently thanks to the price of CDs these days), but one of the albums that has done that to me this year was MGMT‘s Oracular Spectacular. I don’t even know how to begin to describe it… it’s trippy and strange, dancey, Brooklyn pop, and it draws on some really good background music from funk to classic rock to sixties “Age of Aquarius”-type songs. It makes you want to smile, sing, and dance while at the same time rail against the sometime hollowness of modern society. Whatever you really want to say about it, it’s an awesome album well worth a listen.

I’ve been absolutely fascinated by these guys for most of the year and missed their concerts a few months ago, so when I saw they were playing at McCarren Park for a Pool Party, I jumped all over that.

Even though there were five guys on stage and both they and their fans were decked out like the sons and daughters of flower children, the show was remarkably low energy. That’s my only complaint. These guys are incredibly talented and blended together seamlessly. It could catch you off-guard sometimes, when one of the guitarists would break into a solo – something you would never see coming from only listening to the album.

As an encore, MGMT played a fifteen-minute song in honor of the last season of Pool Parties in McCarren Park Pool. Jam band? Not quite. But the attractive thing about a jam band is watching talented people play great music together. And that’s the vibe I got from this band. Despite the long lines and light rain early on, it was a show worth the wait.

Bonus shot! I didn’t get any of the guys in warpaint, but I did get one of the many headbands:

For the record, one day, I will get a press pass and be able to take photos from the pit. When that day comes, you’d best watch out! They’re going to be good. In the meantime, as you can see, I make do with what I can.