Of Montreal, Deerhoof, & Yonatan Gat at Toad’s Place – New Haven, CT

Monday night’s intriguing lineup of Yonatan Gat, Deerhoof, and Of Montreal promised a diverse and intriguing mix of virtuosity, experimentalism, and theatricality. Like a sonic circus of sorts the audience first turned their attention to the center ring, or should I say formed a ring in the center of the venue encircling Gat and his two bandmates.

Lit only by individual lamps pointed in each performers general direction, the players moved between sharp illumination and deep shadow as they moved jaggedly to and fro with each note. For those unfamiliar with the ex-Monotonix guitarist’s work and in particular his live show, I can best characterize it as Klezmer meets the Sun City Girls meets Lightning Bolt. Since I am drawing ridiculous but somehow fitting comparisons, Gat’s guitar work draws from the sloppy stylings of Jimmy Page while cultivating the sounds of an Erkin Koray or Selda Bagcan. The performance itself was as sonically rich as it was visually sparse holding the audience captive within their circle of peers. Unfortunately, because rock and roll is all about keeping to a schedule the performance was marred by 15 minutes of the sound engineer waving his flashlight at Gat to inform him his time was up. Normally the crowd would not have to suffer through this obnoxious annoyance but because some of us, myself included, were facing the rear of the venue it was the focus for the final couple of songs. Gat caught sight of the flashlight and simply put his head down and played even harder, faster, and louder. I chuckled to myself wondering if Gat’s insolent refusal to lay the guitar down was punk rock or more so a cultural disconnect. Regardless, I’m glad he forged on with his frenetic strumming alongside the thunderous drumming and fluttering basslines.

Once the ring had dispersed it was on to the animal portion of the circus; Deerhoof was next. Having just returned from a lengthy European tour in support of their latest album La Isla Bonita one might have expected a tired and worn foursome. On the contrary, the “runners four” proved as lively and cohesive as ever, tearing through a set of new cuts and old favorites. Paradise Girls, Doom, Exit Only, and Last Fad were among the new tracks performed from La Isla Bonita while mixing in favorites like We Do Parties, The Perfect Me, and of course finishing up with an interactive participatory rendition of Come See the Duck. Not to be overlooked, drummer and inspirational speaker Greg Saunier took to the mic to provide some wordsmithing midway through the set. As any good humorist would do, Saunier shared some observational humor from the evening letting us know that he had just realized something distracting during the previous song. When seated behind his drum kit he was able to see himself perfectly within a mirror behind the bar at the back of the venue. When describing what he saw a voice from the crowd yelled “it was beautiful!” to which Saunier replied “I thought so too…thank you!”. Guitarist John Dietrich also joined in the storytelling, reminiscing about their last time playing at Toad’s Place while opening for the Fiery Furnaces in 2007. If any of you know your baseball history to the degree that many of us here at StGA do then you will be able to recount who won the World Series that year. Yep, the Boston Red Sox. In any event, Dietrich was recalling an epic solo by frontman Matthew Friedberger, or so Friedberger will always remember it. As it turned out a large portion of the crowd (being in Red Sox territory) had been watching a playoff game and just as Friedberger’s solo ended the Red Sox hit a home run, which of course was met with wild celebration and cheering. Friedberger was flush with surprise and appreciation for such a receptive and gracious crowd that night. No false cheers on this evening however, all in response to an excellent Deerhoof performance.

The stage was set for the final performance of the evening, and oh what a performance it was. Known for their theatrical live act led by the idiosyncratic ring master himself, Kevin Barnes, Of Montreal combined their music with elements of performance, puppetry, and absurdist theater. Of Montreal’s surrealist Bowie-esque extravaganza featured a variety of strange creatures including white winged humanoids, Spider Man Abraham Lincoln, big bare human breasted pink nippled white dogs, and of course a swirling array of representational and abstract video projections. At the center of it all dressed to the nines donning his/her iconic glittered blue eye shadow was Georgie Fruit; Barnes’ alter ego. I’m always impressed by singers who sound as good live as they do on the album and Barnes is no exception. His vocal presence was quite impressive, particularly considering all of the extra sensory input that he had to compete with.

Touring in support of Aureate Gloom released earlier this month by independent label Polyvinyl, Of Montreal played an ambitious 20+ song set lasting almost 2 hours including several costume and set changes. Barnes and company performed most of the tracks from their latest album and also included cuts stretching across many of their 12 previous albums. Highlights included The Past Is A Grotesque Animal, We Were Born the Mutants Again With Leafling, and Gronlandic Edit all from 2007’s Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer?. Other fan favorites included Rapture Rapes the Muses from 2004’s Satanic Panic in the Attic, Forecast Fascist Future from their 2005 release The Sunlandic Twins, and Bunny Ain’t No Kind of Rider (video below). Finally, the evening came to a close with an epic 10+ minute rendition of The Past Is A Grotesque Animal.

Having now finally seen them live, there is little question left in my mind as to why Of Montreal fans are so rabid. If you have yet to see them in concert, I highly recommend catching them. They continue their extensive 2015 tour throughout much of the US, west of the Mississippi, before heading to Europe in late April.

Of Montreal

Of Montreal-2jpg_16783425762_l
Of Montreal-3jpg_16162208604_l
Of Montreal-4jpg_16758664726_l
Of Montreal-5jpg_16162216904_l
Of Montreal-6jpg_16162219164_l
Of Montreal-7jpg_16784537325_l
Of Montreal-8jpg_16784540275_l
Of Montreal-9jpg_16758676596_l
Of Montreal-10jpg_16577272617_l
Of Montreal-11jpg_16783458592_l
Of Montreal-12jpg_16783461262_l
Of Montreal-13jpg_16164628043_l
Of Montreal-14jpg_16758690176_l
Of Montreal-15jpg_16784559635_l
Of Montreal-16jpg_16164634943_l
Of Montreal-17jpg_16577290347_l
Of Montreal-18jpg_16596988478_l
Of Montreal-19jpg_16783479422_l
Of Montreal-20jpg_16783483762_l
Of Montreal-21jpg_16598437429_l
Of Montreal-22jpg_16577309137_l
Of Montreal-23jpg_16784587285_l
Of Montreal-24jpg_16164663103_l
Of Montreal-25jpg_16164666063_l
Of Montreal-26jpg_16597216990_l
Of Montreal-27jpg_16758731376_l
Of Montreal-28jpg_16597020218_l
Of Montreal-29jpg_16783511512_l


Deerhoof

Deerhoof-10jpg_16758824896_l
Deerhoof-11jpg_16783601072_l
Deerhoof-12jpg_16784697755_l
Deerhoof-13jpg_16783607712_l
Deerhoof-14jpg_16577428907_l
Deerhoof-15jpg_16162390844_l
Deerhoof-16jpg_16162392984_l
Deerhoof-17jpg_16164783543_l
Deerhoof-18jpg_16783566821_l
Deerhoof-19jpg_16577444097_l
Deerhoof-20jpg_16783572841_l
Deerhoof-21jpg_16597349380_l
Deerhoof-22jpg_16597150968_l
Deerhoof-23jpg_16164805433_l
Deerhoof-24jpg_16784739355_l
Deerhoof-2jpg_16784667775_l
Deerhoof-3jpg_16597090328_l
Deerhoof-4jpg_16577396587_l
Deerhoof-5jpg_16598530659_l
Deerhoof-6jpg_16758810366_l
Deerhoof-7jpg_16598537909_l
Deerhoof-8jpg_16783592232_l
Deerhoof-9jpg_16758821046_l


Leave a Reply