The night of January 30 was perhaps the most anticipated show of the
year to date: the talked about, fawned over, overnight New York
sensations MGMT and Yeasayer. It was a frantic clusterfuck. Either band
was probably capable of selling out the joint (Holocene) by themselves,
yet here they were, together. And so many fans—or perhaps those
just wanting to know what all the fuss was about—were left
outside.

Yeasayer, the original headliner, was bumped down and played first.
They absolutely killed it—cracking like a whip, with a sound all
their own. Then it was MGMT, fresh from a stint on David Letterman. In
the moments before those first chords, the room was ablaze. But
quickly, the wet blanket descended.

MGMT sounded little like their tightly produced, well-layered,
dynamically varied debut, Oracular Spectacular. They were all
washy guitars and the drummer stunk. It wasn’t breathing. We waited,
thinking maybe it was an issue of sound, or that they just needed to
warm up. But the air and clarity never came. As the audience thinned it
became clear just how much Flaming Lips producer Dave Fridmann had
contributed to MGMT’s album. But it was even more than that.

“We got signed at a point where we hadn’t really talked to each
other for the last six months,” singer Andrew VanWyngarden told the
BBC. “We had never thought of MGMT as a real band. We didn’t even have
a live act.”

By the time the hit broke, however, MGMT apparently hadn’t remedied
either of those problems. On stage, they didn’t appear to be having a
good time—especially the bassist, who looked terribly bored.
Afterward he sulked around the club alone.

How the MGMT situation plays out should be an interesting one.
Certainly with practice or perhaps a new backing band they may be able
to turn around the live shows, which is requisite for success in the
downloading age. But there may be a bigger cloud looming over their
heads.

MGMT is one of the few indie-styled bands recently to sign and debut
with a major label (Columbia). Others of the same ilk, despite
interest, opted for indies. Being with a major, however, hasn’t given
MGMT a particular boost in sales (as of March they’ve moved 21,000
albums). When it comes down, how will the label pressure be met? In the
end, perhaps the most telling thing to watch for is how the major
labels react. Could MGMT be the last fly-by-night indie band to make
the jump to a major label debut?

MGMT plays the Doug Fir Lounge on Tuesday, April 22.