The stage was black and the audience silent. Out of left stage came a body, wrapped in a skin tight muscle patterned morph suit, donning a suit jacket, red cape and top hat.
Two straitjacketed skeletons stood silent on both sides of the mystery figure. Images of colorful birds and squares projected onto and behind the trio. The man with the top hat grabbed the mic and screamed, “I release you from your meat bodies. Let’s have a meat party and let our meat bodies go.”
The Majestic Theatre was transformed Sunday into a whirlwind of colors, sounds, patterns, textures and a shockingly large amount of morphsuits. Of Montreal, with opener Diane Coffee, created an atmosphere that blurred the lines between fiction and reality with their psychedelia-inspired sounds.
Diane Coffee, the solo project of Foxygen drummer Shaun Fleming, set the tone for the entire night. With gray glitter eye paint and matching lipstick, Fleming looked like a warrior dancing flamboyantly on stage to the sound of retro psychedelia with honesty and a modern personality. Transitioning from smooth vocals and haunting melodies to screams of emotion over harsh guitar licks, Fleming showed his range. Diane Coffee made it feel like everyone took a tab of acid, dancing through the colors the music made.
If Diane Coffee represented the initial stages of LSD, Of Montreal was when the real trip set in. After the brief description of meat bodies, the band took the stage, lead by frontman Kevin Barnes. Barnes, donning a red suit, clean-cut bob and blue glittered eye liner, magnetized the audience into the confines of his weirdly creative mind. The events that followed were a blur of projected neon images, psychedelic guitar grooves, pounding bass, strange dancers and ethereal singing.
Barnes led the charge in creating a trippy environment that felt straight out of the ’70s.
Of Montreal hypnotized the audience with tracks from their impressive discography of more than 19 albums, including their 2015 release Aureate Gloom, completely transforming Majestic as the show ran its course.
The highlight of the performance was the theatrics and images that amplified the already infatuating, retro music. With a projector aimed at the stage during the entirety of the performance, there were limitless opportunities to create stunning visuals. Colorful images of animals, logos, rivers and political figures danced across Barnes’ face as the audience screamed along with every word that reverberated out of the speakers.
Throughout the show, dancers accompanied the band on stage, each wearing strange creations and a seemingly endless supply of morphsuits. With glow sticks in hand, the likes of Abraham Lincoln, U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vermont, and Donald Trump joined the electrically-charged rave. Other notable occurrences included animal faces projected on canvases, dogs with boobs and dinosaur-like creatures with half-human heads battling it out.
The show was a mess. A beautiful mess. People fell onto glitter-soaked floors. Strange dancers performed unmentionable acts. Guitar grooves and echoed vocals made the whole venue seem to be in a drug-induced haze. Despite being a Sunday evening, the Majestic rocked like it was a Friday night — no fears, regrets or inhibitions.
