Night before last, our photo lady Mary Rehak made it out for the highly anticipated show by MGMT at Stubbs.  While she was really looking forward to the set, I wouldn’t really say she was too pleased with the outcome.  Sometimes the hype just doesn’t deliver too well live I guess.  Follow the jump for Mary’s take on the show and some of her fancy photos.

Stubbs shows lose something with the noise ordinance. Maybe it’s that bone-trembling ‘wall of noise’ sound, maybe it’s some psychosomatic sense of ‘I’m rocking out at a concert’, but something about a band playing at 9pm and sounding – from the back, at least – like someone’s radio cranked a bit too loud… Well, it’s just kind of sad. Or maybe that was just the band. Remember Animal Collective last year? It felt like you were drowning in that noise. Last night felt more like a kiddy pool.

MGMT live seemed lethargic, with muddled vocals that were mixed low and almost unintelligible at times. The crowd, as usual, screamed loudest for the old stuff. Kids were dressed like ravers, indie geeks, frat boy douches, your run-of-the-mill music fans, and the type of people who bought tickets because ‘dude, it’s that band from the radio!’.

If I sound critical and cranky, it’s only because it was a shitty show. MGMT plodded through a setlist heavy with material from the new album, likely happy they could finally back away from the overplayed tracks that got them to sold-out Sunday night Stubbs. A 16-song (plus encore) setlist carried them for well over an hour that felt like much longer.

After wandering out of Stubbs for a break mid-set, unable to deal with the mediocrity any longer, I tried to describe my disappointment to someone: the bland stage presence, unappealing live sound, various intangibles that made the show unwatchable. They replied “Oh, so they’re a cd band then?”

Exactly.

Mary has more of her incredible photography on flickr.  Say hi.