Phillyist Reviews... MGMT 10/11 @ Trocadero

Last night, I was at the Trocadero to see MGMT and what they’re all about. What I can tell you, amigos, is that these gangly dudes put out pure, unadulterated funk. The first song that I heard in its entirety was "Electric Feel." These are my thoughts, in retroactive real time, regarding what was going on in front of me:

If only this band wasn’t plagued by the arbitrary assignment of ‘opener’…If only this crowd had three more beers…I think every single person on the floor is stoned…How can they only be bobbing their heads?...This song is funky like day old underpants…Seriously, why aren’t these people running around high-fiving to the electric feel?..."I said oh girl…yah shock me like an electric eel"…No one appreciates good Gap Band style funk anymore…scenesters.

The song screamed "get up and clap" but the audience did not listen; they stared blankly.

The lack of motivation on the part of those in attendance was not of concern to the Shaun White-look-alike lead singer who kept on stomping and twisting his feet.

They then marched into "Future Reflections," another song off of their new album Oracular Spectacular. This song was more epochal and very Arcade Fire-esque. There was a lot of singing in unison, a lot of rolling riffs and drawn out cries. Somehow, though, they managed to keep it funky in spite of the drones they had standing before them.

After a forty minute set I was left with the impression that I had just heard the Gap Band, Frank Zappa, The Arcade Fire and Talking Heads each perform a song or two. For the life of me, I cannot figure out whether this makes MGMT unoriginal, versatile or lazy.

At the end of the day, I’m not really sure it matters; they got me up and moving without shocking me like an electric eel. Baby.