On December 2, the American psychedelic rock band MGMT performed in Pittsburgh, PA at the well known Stage AE inside the indoor concert hall which was astonishingly able to fit every last fan in the decently sized pit area.
I waited for an hour to get into the door of the venue, after enjoying dinner at the Jerome Bettis Grille just across the street. When I first arrived, little to no people were there at all. But once I got in line with the other freezing fans, more and more people showed up. Including teenagers our age, college students, and I even talked to women who were in their 30’s who came to enjoy a band they loved since their mid-twenties.
The very first appearance of MGMT in Pittsburgh attracted an almost sold out show. The band was founded by Benjamin Goldwasser and frontman Andrew VanWyngarden in 2004. The band was originally called The Management, but since another band had already claimed the name the boys abbreviated it to MGMT.
About another hour after the gates opened at 7, the opening band Kuroma played a few catchy beats. Everyone was basically just standing around, waiting for the headliner they came to see. On the other hand, I managed to dance a bit to their tunes. Around nine o’clock, the show went on as MGMT entered the stage.
Their back drop was psychedelic and trippy, with all kinds of colors morphing together. The quality was extremely poor, though. Yet, I’m pretty sure they meant for it to be that way. Because it made it even more unique than it already was.
After introducing themselves, they began their show with “Flash Delirium” and as the beat went from calm to “dancey” everyone started dancing like it was their jobs.
“Time to Pretend” was the next song they played and as I heard the beginning techno intro, the crowd’s screaming flooded my ear drums. Everyone around was singing to the meaningful lyrics. They then played “Introspection”, “The Youth”, “Of Moons, Birds, and Monsters”, “Mystery Disease”, “Weekend Wars”, “Siberian Breaks”; it dragged on into the beginning of “Electric Feel”. During this song, people swung their hips from side to side, people jumped, people danced, sang, an unexplainably good time.
Next came “Cool Song No. 2” and right after, another hit played. “Kids” echoed throughout the concert hall with much enthusiasm. The hit song was longer than the original version, guitar riffs and drum beats soloed together to make the unique song even more remarkable; when the last bit of the song chimed everyone jumped in unison.
I wiggled out of the humid pit, but still enjoyed the rest of their set. Which included “Alien Days” and then their encore of “Your Life is a Lie” and “Congratulations”.
One of our very own Sophomores had the chance to attend this concert, too.
“I’ve liked the band since about 2008, MGMT didn’t just play their new material but some of their old songs too. It was only a 45 minute wait and the show being at Stage AE was awesome because the venue is small. So, it’s all general admission which is great because you had the chance to get closer to the stage. Plus, their back drop’s visuals were very trippy and unique.” – Mina Shenouda, Sophomore.
In October 5 of 2007, Spin.com named MGMT “Artist of the Day”. Also, Rolling Stone Magazine pegged MGMT as the top band to watch in 2008 and named 9th in the BBC’s sound of 2008 Top Ten Poll. Last.fm named them the most played artist of 08’ in their Best of 2008 list.
MGMT had many hit singles that got them where they are today, Singles such as “Time To Pretend”, “Electric Feel” and “Kids” all from Oracular Spectacular which was released on December 14, 2007. Congratulations came out on April 13, 2010 and it included the singles “Flash Delirium”, “Siberian Breaks”, “It’s Working”, and “Congratulations”. Lastly, their self titled album which was released in September of this year, MGMT’s singles called “Your Life is A Lie” and “Alien Days.”
Hands down, MGMT is a very progressive and popular psychedelic rock band and I’m looking forward to another appearance in Steel City again; I’m sure everyone else is too.
