Cirque du Soleil has a new show, and it’s called Of Montreal.
The megahit indie rockstars hit the Hollywood Palladium on Saturday night with a theatrical troupe and support from the band HEALTH.
HEALTH shattered the commonly preconceived notion that if the opening band is touring with Of Montreal, it must be decent. With incoherent screamo-style vocals and intensely loud instruments played by musicians who couldn’t keep time, the foursome blew the audience away, but only in the literal sense.
You could actually feel the drums pulsing through your legs, and the volume even caused some of the otherwise still and bored audience members to involuntarily inch backward.
HEALTH is not a band for the Of Montreal crowd. After 10 minutes of nonstop noise, the band and audience finally took a breath. This brief pause gave way to an audience member in the back of the room who spoke for the packed room when he bellowed, “You suck!”
His words, not mine.
The only cure for this half hour of unnecessary pain and anger was the upbeat visionary that is Of Montreal. With anywhere between seven and 16 performers onstage at any given time, Of Montreal used every inch of the Palladium’s stage to incorporate fast-paced, comedic sketches into every song.
The spectacle began with the unleashing of frontman Kevin Barnes. With all of Barnes’ bandmates at their respective instruments, his enchanting voice could be heard, but the flamboyant, ever-costumed body was nowhere in sight.
Then, four dancers in Buddha-like outfits and a covered cage appeared on stage from a revolving partition, which unveiled a wonderfully different scene every time it rotated. The dancing Buddhas, who soon transformed into ninjas, uncovered the cage, freeing Barnes. He then proceeded to make love to the microphone for two solid hours.
The six bandmates split in two, distributing themselves on opposite ends of the stage with two sets of drums on platforms several yards above stage level. This left plenty of room for a multitude of mini-plays and allowed Barnes to work the stage, constantly dancing his way back and forth and up and down.
Barnes, the modern embodiment of David Bowie and Andy Warhol, kicked off the show wearing purple pants and a sequined sweater on top of a white ruffled blouse on top of a tight-fitting T-shirt. As the night went on, his clothes came off.
With more than a handful of costume changes, he got all the way down to briefs and a purple belt to accessorize. Two of the plethora of troupers got to cover his entire exposed body from the neck down in red paint a few minutes before he donned a white, papier-mache Onesie.
Signature fashion choices aside, Barnes and the rest of the decorated band had a truly magnificent collective presence both onstage and above it. Three screens hung directly above stage and displayed thermal views of what was happening below. The screens also illustrated brightly colored flowers and various designs, translating the band’s desire for all things beautiful.
With the flashing images above and the musicians acting out the story lines while playing and singing flawlessly, deciding what to keep your eyes on was overwhelming at times. Some scenes, however, immediately grabbed and held the whole audience’s attention. From the nun in fishnet stockings to the presence of a noose and subsequent pretend hanging, there was never a dull moment ““ though some were occasionally uncomfortable ““ throughout the set.
Of Montreal ended its encore with a cover of Franz Ferdinand’s “Take Me Out” and a version of Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit” that would have made Kurt Cobain proud. Barnes didn’t get too many chances to speak with the audience, but he used his rare opportunities to communicate the message “love each other” and also summed up the band’s overall creed: “Thank you for letting us be ourselves.”
““ Saba Mohtasham
E-mail Mohtasham at smohtasham@media.ucla.edu.