Dallas Voice graphic designer Kristina Walton did a turn last night as concert reviewer and caught of Montreal at the Granada. And I’m sure the fact that she’s a huge fan won’t affect her ability to provide an unbiased assessment.
She snapped these pics of the show for Instant Tea. You can read her take on the night after the jump.
Of Montreal, a seriously guilty pleasure of mine, performed here in Dallas last night. As predicted, the show was not to be missed, despite the fact that it felt like a good 100 degrees in the cozy Granada Theater. The Athens, Ga. crew started rocking once the curtains were lifted, with lead singer Kevin Barnes coming in after a few beats, sporting the typical hipster neck gear, a little bit of jean shorts and teal tights.
I was smitten.
They set started with high energy and ended the same, mostly rocking classics off of their later (and undeniably more popular) albums, like 2007’s “Hissing Fauna, Are You The Destroyer?” and “Skeletal Lamping,” from 2008. The visuals were definitely a crowd pleaser. As a designer, I was most impressed with the massive amount of illustration works displayed on the oversized screens across the stage, as they danced around to the beats of my favorite tunes. Those same screens showed a silent-picture type mini-drama that unfolded as the show went on. They included strangely fun characters that made no sense, like human-sized pigs and creatures with creepy masks. Eventually they all ended up on stage shooting confetti into the crowd.
The band treated the audience to a preview of the new album “False Priest,” due out later this year. Despite everyone holding up their iPhones pressing record the whole time, it’s refreshing to hear a band brave enough to expose their new works, knowing full well it will end up on YouTube before iTunes.
Even though I sweated my makeup off the entire time, at the end of the show the screens displayed “I love you.” That made the heat all worth it.
of Montreal, I love you, too.
