The somewhat subdued atmosphere at the Wolverhampton Civic made it easy to forget that we were about to see one of the most successful psychedelic bands of modern times. Once the support act Guards took to the stage this slowly began to change for the better, although you could tell they had their work cut out for them when it came to warming up the crowd. Their set was a fun one, both enchanting and energetic at the same time. MGMT started their set after entering to an audio mash up of 60s radio sounds and colourful visuals. Opening with their classic “Of Moons, Birds and Monsters” they quickly got to flex their progressive muscles, before quickly moving onto mega hit “Time to Pretend”. Newer releases such as “It’s working” got big reactions but it was the classics such as from their debut album that really made the night. That said the most fun had was when they allowed a fan to play the cow bell on latest single “Your Life is a Lie” with even the band breaking character and laughing. Despite the venue being filled to only a around a third capacity it was a quirky, surreal gig that made for an alternative way of spending one’s Sunday evening.
Ben Rider
