boogie down

The first thing I did when I was inside the overcrowded Kool Haus in Toronto last night was stumble my way to the ATM, then stumble my way to the bar. My pre-Kool Haus show ritual of downing Rockstar Vodkas ("Officer, I don't know what you're talking about, these are just energy drinks. No public drinking here.") on the Toronto lakefront had been a success and I was in my stage of intoxication where more alcohol consumption seemed to be the only option.
MGMT's opening band for the evening (http://www.myspace.com/violens) was still playing when my friends and I arrived around 9:45 so we were in no real rush to join the crowd. A beer at the bar is always a great way to start a concert.

It took a good 20 minutes of pushing, shoving, "I'm so sorry" 's, and "Please let us through, our best friend is up front and we need to find her" 's to finally make it to a semi- decent spot about 2 rows of people back from the stage. For the crowd we were in, this was definitely a huge success. We settled in (I use this term ironically-- there was no settling at this show) for a sweaty 2 hours of Andrew and Ben belting sensual tunes in our ears.

Leading up to the show, I wasn't expecting much. MGMT is in my top 5 list of favourite bands of my generation, and Andrew Vanwyngarden is like some sort of god to me, but I've watched and read enough interviews with the band to pick up on the vibe that they don't give a particularly big shit about how they come off to anyone. So with this mentality in mind, I was sort of expecting a laid back show with Andrew mumbling into the microphone.
It's not like I would have cared too much if that had been the outcome anyway. I'd been waiting for MGMT to hit Toronto for the past 2 years so there was no way I was going to miss out.

When the band finally came on stage (casual strides, Vanwyngarden sporting an almost shy smile) and kicked off with "The Youth", I actually had a legitimate 10 seconds of Jonas Brothers syndrome. I felt like my 15 year old sister in the presence of Nick Jonas. Their sound was so clear and Vanwyngarden actually COULD sing live. I was in my glory.

MGMT's almost 2 hour set never lost steam, and was a perfect mix of new and old tunes. When they played "Kids", the feeling in the hall was fantastic. I've never seen such an excited and happy group of people (the dozens of joints being passed around probably helped the atmosphere). It was really amazing.

All in all, the best concert I've been to in a while. I've never been one for massive arena shows, so I loved the fact that MGMT was general admission at the Kool Haus. It was a swell evening, and even though it ended with a headachey and pukey Sarah on the train ride home, it was worth it.

Long live Vanwyngarden, that's all I've gotta say.