Of Montreal, Soul Tree, Cambridge, 30th May 2007

Photograph by Fanny Singer

With an album as grand and impressive as Hissing Fauna, Are You The Destroyer? and a penchant for glam costumes and undressing in public, the last place you’d imagine to see Of Montreal would be Cambridge – a bastion of quiet and reserved contemplation. However, on a suitably bright and clear Cambridge evening we bore witness to an event, not just a gig, but a show!

Before the festivities began though, we were welcomed by the, quite frankly, amazing Strange Death of Liberal England. Their influences are varied and wide ranging, taking in the delicate roots of folk music and the more aggressive elements of post-rock. The music swoops and soars during their set and they share some of the ideals of fellow post-rock enthusiasts, iLiKETRAiNS – there’s placards littered round the stage declaring “Repent Repent” and carrying slogans like “Is This All You Care About?” which are displayed between songs – are they song titles or messages? Who cares, it all adds to their mystique. The crowd, at least those not chatting, are mesmerised. The only thing that counts against them is that the vocals are too messy, their music is allowed to breathe but the lyrics are too deep in the mix and it’s hard to pick out their words. As their set descends into a wall of noise and vanishes into oblivion, the crowd are left with their ears ringing and a nagging feeling that they’ve seen something very special.

Next up were the rather more straight forward Video Nasties. Ploughing the now well tilled field of indie-pop, they were perfectly enjoyable if lacking any edge or originality. I also couldn’t quite get my head around the fact that the lead singer looked like Preston from The Ordinary Boys either. Their set covered all the bases though from Madness-aping stomps to the chugging synth-riffs of early Killers or The Bravery. Nothing really set these guys out from the rest of the crowd and I would have much rather heard a longer set from The Strange Death… than stand through their, perfectly executed, but rather cold set.

As the stage was being set for the main event, the crowd watched, but grew more restless, as time went on. It seemed to take an age for Of Montreal to come on. However, when they finally did, we weren’t left disappointed. Resplendent in an outfit Bowie would have been proud to wear during his Ziggy Stardust days, Kevin Barnes captivated the audience. Thrusting, cavorting and contorting on stage through each song and, with guitar, reminding me of Prince as he crafted aching riffs out of it. The set was long and Hissing Fauna heavy, some of the crowd shouting for earlier songs which, for a change, doesn’t make much sense as their latest album has distilled all their previous influences and sounds into one perfect glitter ball of a record. The music maybe some bastard love child of Glam, Indie and Pop but it’s thoroughly enjoyable. Barnes has a lyrical eloquence that would make even Morrissey blush. However, they were hard to pick out initially; the vocals were too muddied and drowned out by the drum machine and bass (being played by Timmy Mallet of all people). Before the end of the epic set we were treated to costume changes, step ladders and a covers interlude in which Guns ‘N Roses Sweet Child Of Mine and The Kinks You Really Got Me were twisted into something approaching kitsch masterpieces.

As the dazzling kaleidoscope of Yellow Submarine-esque images that bathed the stage subsided and the end of the night drew nigh, the crowd were left with a feeling that we’ve witness something unique. A band who, when they play live, want to give something back to the people, something more than just a live repetition of the songs on record, they want to entertain and leave you with lasting memories. Tonight they did that and more.