Sunday night. You’re thinking: a cup of tea. A movie maybe. Perhaps you have some dishes to do, some tidying up. No matter what, Sunday night should be calm, relaxing and anything but loud. Well, think again, because Sunday night could also be filled with colourful make up, glittery costumes and gas masks. You want an explanation? I’ll give it to you: American indie-glam-art-pop band Of Montreal at Admiralspalast. They recently released their tenth full-length album False Priest, and Sunday night they came to Berlin to show what it was all about.I completely fell in love with Hush Hush, the support act. One guy with a microphone, a series of back tracks and loads and loads of energy. From synth pop to R&B and techno. Dancing, jumping, blood, sweat and tears as well as witty comments between the tracks. He was amazing. I told him afterwards. Just had to.
Hush Hush worked well as a warm up, because after this first part, I was so ready for more. And Of Montreal were ready to take over the room. Not just with a regular concert, but with a spectacular show: ten people on stage (eight musicians and two actors), live visuals, face paint, a fish with a gas mask, silver skulls kissing, a crowd surfer in a chessboard squared body suit, bloody mummies, pigs and lots of glitter.
Coquet Coquette, the first song and set the tone for the rest of the night: upbeat, energetic and dance friendly. Throughout the whole set, it was only the more downbeat Casualty of You, that differed from this style. One song led to the other, and the whole concert was, so to speak, one unit of sound, uninterupted by presentations and pauses, the whole time accompanied by theatrical acts and visual elements. Everything was very well played and very well performed.
They started off with a bang, they finished with a bang, and everything in between was pretty much bangs too. The only problem was, that it was difficult to recognize one bang from the other. The whole show had one energy level only, and after a while I found myself being a bit bored. Sure, the venue was not at all full and it was a Sunday night, and sure, there was a small crowd up front, who seemed to have a blast, but I just wish that Of Montreal had managed to reach the audience a bit more than they did. But it was an impressive show, no doubt about that.
