Ice Cream Man

(check out Of Montreal Saturday, 2/4/06 at the echo)

Awesome!, Awesome!! and Awesome!!!! Tucson’s Club Congress was graced Tuesday night with one of the best live concerts I have been privileged to attend in the past couple of years. I stood in a line that snaked around the building (great turn out Tucson!) and chatted it up. As eager fans entered the club, the excitement was in the air. Everyone was anticipating a great show.

The first band, MGMT was incredible. They have been playing music together for around 5 years, for the originators of the bands Real Far Gone and Other Planet and have welcomed the newest band member Perro Serpiente, from Memphis, the past 2 years. Their music was fun, energetic and melodic. The set featured “Lioness,” “Destroy,” “Terrible Eyes,” “Constellation” and my favorite “Electric Feel.” The audience was not disappointed.

The second band to light up the atmosphere was Grand Buffet. They had some loyal fans from Pittsburgh in the audience. Their Hip-Hop messages had socially responsible suggestions buried within their curt language. I am long past the so called “shock value” of words, yet still aware that some social circles will shut off the message due to the language. Their DJ, “The Fillipino Fist,” masterfully accented the lyrics with fine vinyl spinning. Great energy, lots of smiles and masses of bodies moving in place throughout this set. So far this eclectic mix of music was working very well. I headed to the watering hole and closer to the bar and to my surprise ran into a couple of young men with a different opinion than mine (imagine that!). Dave and Mike compared them to a “Bad Beastie Boys; a futile attempt to both imitate Eminem and make frivolous political statements.” I enjoyed the political references (I term it “the realities of today’s world”) and appreciate the ability of the arts to make such statements. I would definitely drop the term frivolous in today’s political state of affair. The messages are definitely hitting some touchy areas. Keep up the good work!

In an incredibly creative show, Of Montreal was the highlight of the night. I wouldn’t even disgrace them calling it a set; they played their hearts out for us and played longer than most. There was even acknowledgment of Tucson’s latest “Dillinger Days.” The blue neon light encircling the neck, offered a shadowy tint to the stylish brimmed hat that symbolized the presence of the ghost of famous gunslinger, John Dillinger, who played some feisty drums, keyboards and bass tonight (John Dillinger is reported to have downed some beer at this historic hotel). Each song was diverse and intriguing. I loved the mini theatrics that accompanied the songs. The audience was packed wall to wall with eyes glued to the stage. Not wanting to miss a single beat, the mass of humanity moved and smiled in sync with the band. I could go on and on about the potential this band has, but just go see them for yourself. You wont be sorry!

While I stood in line at the beginning of the night, I spoke with a young man who is a DJ at the university radio station here. After filling him in on how it was I came to doing these reviews (via my son, Jeremiah) for Ice Cream Man, he summed up our conversation quite nicely with this statement, “You are the coolest mom!”

With nights like this, it’s easy to be cool