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The last 12 months have seen Of Montreal catapulted from Elephant-6 indie minor stardom to almost mainstream adulation. And with Kevin Barnes penchant for the theatrical, the new budgets afforded his touring band is fully put to the limits with the current show.

Saturday's show at the Palladium had a pretty diverse crowd -- the front half of the floor was dominated by kids as enthralled as beatlemaniacs from the fab four's most potent days. The crowd got older and older until you reached the balconies where it was distinctly more laidback.

Barnes is the centerpiece of OM and the show is designed accordingly -- two drummers play atop columns on either side of the stage, two guitarists off right, keyboardist elevated off left -- and the center reserved for Barnes and the pretty elaborate set pieces that come with almost every song. With some exceptions, I've largely no idea what, if any, underlying message there is to Of Montreal's set design, dances, theatrics -- lots of half-references but nothing coherent. And at times, the whole camp sideshow jeopardises the music but it just about sticks together.

As for the music, the live show borrows the classic tracks from The Sunlandic Twins and Hissing Fauna, Are you the Destroyer? but it is the material from Skeletal Lamping that provides the backbone to the show. The show sort of meanders along and reaches a conclusion of sorts with a coffin-fixture ending.

The encore first saw Oslo in the Summertime, the Franz Ferdinand's Take me Out, and finally Nirvana's Smells Like Teen Spirit... and I think that says it all. Barnes and co. are so determined that you enjoy the party that they'll throw anything at you to make sure it's a night to remember -- in a way, that's self-depracation of the highest order. In another respect, it's a band unsure of itself.

• On 11/24/08 at 9:50pm Sara86 said: so they finished with Take Me Out and Smells Like Teen Spirit? Huh! That's weird to say the least. Still, Of Montreal put on a show. Did he get naked? Reply