Thursday, October 9, 2008

Review and Pictures of Beck and MGMT

The United Palace Theater, where MGMT and Beck played, is way up in Harlem, on 175th St. to be exact. Getting there was no problem; getting home afterward was a little more of a hassle, but definitely worth it. The United Palace Theater is gorgeous.
Inside was seating, featuring a little less-than-preferably low ceilings but great views of the stage. I arrived mid-way through MGMT's performance. They had spotlights on stage but otherwise put their energy into the songs and not into visual appeal for the audience. I was satisfied that I arrived in time to hear their live performance of their songs "Kids" and "Electric Feel." I am excited to hear future releases by MGMT and see how they develop. (MGMT describes their musical style as "Healing/Easy Listening/Soul" on their Myspace page; somehow, that combination works for them, though I would be more inclined to call their genre folk-pop.)
(MGMT, above)

There followed a brief intermission as the stage was prepared for Beck.

And Beck's performance lived completely up to my expectations, playing music from his older albums as well as his more recent releases. He and his bandmates put on a good performance; for the most part, they stuck to their musical roles and let the video backdrop behind them provide the visual complement to their music.
Everyone, or almost everyone, was standing during their performance. And a lot of us, like myself, were also dancing. Good times.

No comments: