Roseland Theater, Portland
Thursday, October 28th, 2010
Carnival [kahr-nuh-vuhl]: a traveling amusement show, having sideshows, rides, etc.
Before I get into the Of Montreal carnival, I must give opener Janelle Monae props. She put on a theatrical show that didn't feel overdone. Her dance moves and voice shone brightly. She was worth the price of admission, and I will definitely pay to see her perform again. What a voice.
As for Of Montreal, let us not forget why they exist. Kevin Barnes has a unique voice (which is quite powerful live), and they've put out some damn good music over the years. That is why the carnivalistic path they chose seems a bit mind boggling. Sure it matches Barnes' flamboyant personality, but what about everyone else in the band? For example, I'm sure the guitar player still digs his job because he gets to play an instrument for a living. But don't you think he longs for the good ole days standing at the front of the stage having panties thrown at him, instead of standing behind a shirtless man dressed as a dwarf doing ballerina spins?
The stage lay out included a large empty semi circle pointing away from front-and-center stage to allow Kevin Barnes and the carnival plenty of room to perform. The "band" filled up the rest of the stage. The actual music was a distant third behind Kevin's showmanship and the carnival's antics, to the point that watching the crowd occasionally jump up and down made me remember I was actually at a concert.
How about that drum solo? Sorry, Kevin had his head under the loin cloth of a nearly naked male dancer, graphically describing his visuals. Remember that really catchy guitar riff? Uh, no, I was distracted by the gigantic paper mache heads shooting confetti over the crowd. How about that bass solo? Sorry, I wasn't paying attention, I was watching Barnes mimicking fucking a pig doggystyle (wait, do pigs fuck like dogs? Can we call this piggystyle instead? Anyone grow up on a farm?)
For one moment though, forget all the costumes, antics, piggystyle fucking, and whatever else occurred leading up to the encore. Janelle Monae and her crew came out to join Of Montreal for the finale, and a Michael Jackson dance party ensued. The bouncers started crowd surfing, the bartenders started pounding drinks, people jumped off the balcony into the crowd, and the front door security snuck in the Burnside locals dragging them upstairs to join the madness. For ten minutes, everything was right in the world.
The three songs covered were "Thriller," "Wanna Be Starting 'Somethin'," and "PYT." Even if I exaggerated a bit above, who doesn't like Michael Jackson? People go nuts over him. Once, I even saw a dancer at a gentleman's club take her clothes off when a Jackson tune came on.
Had this show occurred in March, it might go down as one of the most ridiculous shows I've witnessed. However, being a couple days before Halloween made this a highly entertaining costume party. Based on the definition, I guess it wasn't a carnival after all, they didn't have rides.
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