ACL Fest: MGMT Electrifies Sea Of People

Patrick Dentler

After having already enjoyed CSS’ set at the AT&T Blue Room, we waded through a sea of people to return to our spot for the electro-psychedelia of Brooklyn’s MGMT. The excited audience patiently clapped along during the first track “Pieces Of What” and came alive when “Electric Feel,” complete with the stellar falsetto chorus, sent bolts of funk through north west Zilker. We were pretty occupied during the epic “Weekend Wars,” receiving texts of “Spiritualized is awesome” from a cohort at a rival stage, and also assisting with a girl that fainted (but did get immediate help and walked away fine). The beautiful melody of “The Youth” and the sizzling six-string spectacle that ended “The Handshake” were no match for the two anthems, “Time to Pretend” and “Kids,” both showcasing the band’s mass appeal. The former had the attendees singing and clapping along with their arms in the air while the latter included an extended guitar solo before the final chorus sent the crowd into pandemonium. The band then effortlessly transitioned into the psychedelic trip that is “4th Dimensional Transitional,” all in all satisfying the eager crowd with a smorgasbord of sounds. The mood did change a tad when we walked away, encountering a maze of chairs in that sea of (now disgruntled) people, but on the plus side, we took in a lot more of John Fogerty’s set (on the AMD stage) than anticipated.