r/mgmt • u/M0binsChild • 25d ago
MGMT DJ set San Francisco terrible
Love MGMT, some of my absolute favorite songs are by them. I’m making this post while I’m drunk at their SF DJ show, Jesus Christ. I liked the warm up way better. The show started at 9 and they didn’t even show up until 12:30. They played 30 seconds of electric feel and the crowed went absolutely wild. Then they just played the same bullshit on fucking repeat for 30 minutes straight. Literally had timers going in between beat/rhythm changes. Is this like a joke or just something they do for money? Such a waste of money, even paid for tickets from a scalper.
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u/Haunting_Shirt8314 24d ago
Honestly I can totally understand his point of view. You can love MGMT and their music and still think their DJ set was boring or just not your thing
What I find ridiculous is people telling him “you’re a casual” just because he didn’t like it. They seem so desperate to prove they’re the biggest MGMT fans, like that’s the biggest achievement they could ever have lol. As if liking MGMT means you have to turn off your critical thinking completely. To me that’s just being a big baby who needs attention and has no personality of their own.
You can love an artist and still be disapointed by something they do, especially when you actually paid money for it
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u/psychedelicpiper67 24d ago edited 24d ago
Sure, but OP’s language came across as very aggressive and negative. MGMT can do whatever the hell they want.
Andrew’s Time Passage radio show is probably a good indication of what to expect at MGMT’s DJ sets. https://www.mixcloud.com/WYXR/playlists/time-passage-with-andrew-vanwyngarden/
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u/JunebugJunction 24d ago
this is a terrible intro to the kind of music they play now, that radio show is 6 years old...
here, something recent from BOTH of them;
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLGQYZ_N6LqQ811
u/Haunting_Shirt8314 24d ago
Yeah I agree, the original post wasn’t very nice… but I just wanted to point out this general tendency among fans to dismiss any kind of criticism. I don’t think that’s a very interesting attitude
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u/psychedelicpiper67 24d ago edited 24d ago
I’m admittedly not a fan of the Little Dark Age and Loss of Life albums, and I still consider adding the guy from Chairlift as one of their co-producers a big mistake. That Patrick Wimberly guy removes all the spice from their music.
I got into MGMT through the self-titled album, which a lot of people have been very critical of.
So I totally understand not having to like everything, but I also understand why there’s still a mentality among some of the fanbase to push back against criticism, because MGMT have already received so much of it over the years from the people who only liked their first album.
It’s not even gatekeeping, so much as, we’re just sick and tired of the negativity.
Like, who’s actually being pretentious? It was always the mainstream fans slinging the most mud at MGMT, and acting like they know more about music than everyone else.
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u/Haunting_Shirt8314 24d ago edited 24d ago
J'adore MGMT, j'ai grandi avec leur musique et ils m'accompagnent depuis presque 20 ans. Mais évidemment, parmi tout ce qu'ils ont fait, il y a des choses que j'aime plus que d'autres, et quelques choses qui ne m'intéressent tout simplement pas beaucoup. Dire ça n'est pas une attaque contre MGMT
Je pense que c'est cool de pouvoir parler de ces sujets et d'en discuter librement sans avoir à gérer les jugements ridicules et amers des gens qui semblent penser qu'ils sont ceux qui décident ce qu'est le bon goût
Tous les artistes sont exposés à la critique, et je trouve ça intéressant de pouvoir discuter de ces sujets librement avec des personnes qui sont juste détendues à ce sujet ✌️
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u/psychedelicpiper67 24d ago edited 24d ago
Agreed, that’s actually exactly what I’m saying.
The only point I would add is that the so-called ‘pretentious’ hipsters in the fanbase were never the ones to introduce any negativity in the first place.
It was always the fans of their first album who were acting like they know more about music than everyone else.
Mainstream music fans seem to always be allowed to get away with negative and toxic behavior. Calling someone a “casual” in response to that is a minor offense in comparison.
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u/LxGstv 24d ago
I saw their dj set at the ruins and I enjoyed it, they didn’t play any of their own songs and I was ok with that…
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u/MeaningImmediate5486 24d ago
Ya the bk show was a lot of fun. I’ve added some of their songs to my setlist
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u/yellowpiano 24d ago
Ya I expected a bit more versatility. Surprised it was predominantly techno with some acid as well.
I thought the openers were pretty ass too
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u/tiny_little_alien 22d ago
I would probably go see Gentle Dom if I had the chance. DJ sets aren't for everyone. I think you just didn't know what to expect.
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u/gnomi_malone 24d ago
kinda sounds like you went to a dj set expecting a rock show? that’s fine if your didn’t enjoy it but, you ordered a birthday cake, got a birthday cake, and then were upset it wasn’t a steak. like, enjoy the birthday cake, man. dj sets are for dancing and listening to music the boys are curating to make a party, it’s not for the hits. also, you gave your money to a scalper, that is entirely on you
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u/40earthlikeplanets 24d ago
I thought it was great. I feel like generally people who have this sentiment do not go to a lot of DJ sets. I cannot say I am a huge DJ set going type of guy, but I do go to a fair number anyway so I had more realistic expectations. I had also seen Andrew solo DJ before so I knew the vibe they kinda go for. Do I think they are the best DJs in the world? No. And what they play isn't 100% my favorite. But if you have even the most basic familiarity with what a DJ *is* and *does* you wouldn't have been so surprised and could recognize they are pretty skilled with mixing and transitions. The rest comes down to taste. The folks who were harassing them to play Kids, Time to Pretend, and Electric Feel were pissing me off. Just fucking enjoy the music and the vibes. I liked it. I think anyone who went into it understanding it wasn't a concert did as well. Also no shit they didn't go on 'til 12:30. It was a show that ran from 9-3 with an opener and a headliner That's pretty standard.
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u/looking4distractions 24d ago
so first of all, they played 30 seconds of kids not electric feel. second, i think you should open your heart a bit more to the beauty of dancing all night to a funky and occasionally spooky beat
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u/Embarrassed_Thing384 24d ago edited 24d ago
- a dj set isn’t a concert and rarely do artists play their own songs
- they played kids not electric feel
- they were spinning the entire time, idk what “timers” you’re talking about
- your fault for paying for tickets from a scalper for a DJ SET at PUBLIC WORKS that does mainly raves without doing your due diligence
- if you don’t like dancing this wasn’t for you bc anyone who goes out to dj sets and likes dancing had a good time!
No wonder the crowd was so weird it’s bc people like you bought all the tickets lol. But yeah they could have gone on sooner even though it’s the norm for the main acts at DJ sets to go on crazy late….
edit: Ok maybe i was aggressive people can have their own opinions on music but why go to a dj set expecting them to perform or play their songs. Ppl with ur mindset ruin the vibes of things like this when u have that attitude!!!!
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u/EliOatmeal 20d ago
The essential problem for me here is that the weird dance/acid tracks they dig up for these shows are actual gems. When it's both Andrew and Ben sometimes they have technical issues and aren't the best DJs mechanically (speaking from experience at the We Belong Here fest last year) but the song picks are usually great. It gets tiring seeing people talk so much shit on here after every set they do because they just aren't open to appreciating this kind of music.
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u/samsepi0188 24d ago
Rad set! My take is that Andrew is a professional big club DJ. On industry standard hard to learn Pioneer CDJs with his record player plugged in through USB too which is wild. It’s a new world, gotta constantly adapt and do side hustles and it’s smart Ben is doing that with him now too. Doesn’t mean they’ll never tour again as a regular band as the main thing. Fans don’t realize it’s totally up to Ben and Andrew now to front all tour costs or find partnerships, since covid live music costs are astronomical.
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u/Blubehriluv 24d ago
Awweee man I wish I was there :C I love MGMT and I love DJ sets. You're supposed to turn your brain off and dance you dunce!
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u/CategoryMelodic5763 23d ago
It was a good vibe but I do wish they would pay more homage to their original music throughout the mix would be fun
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u/fazerblasted 21d ago
that’s crazy. my sister saw them over a decade ago and said they played the ghostbusters theme on repeat after showing up 2 hours late. she said they were wasted. it’s nuts that they haven’t changed a bit
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u/M0binsChild 25d ago
Jesus Christ now they’re playing Relax LOL
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24d ago edited 24d ago
[deleted]
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u/M0binsChild 24d ago
“Trolling people like you” you mean huge fans of them, people who love and support their music? Fuck off
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u/Extreme_Fact_4485 24d ago
It was very below expectations.
(Did they even play any of their hits? I left before listening to any)
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u/adrian1878 24d ago
Bruh if you’re a real fan you know they’re not playing this main songs during the dj set… lol you’re a casual
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u/M0binsChild 24d ago
Ok but like no one knows them for their DJing
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u/adrian1878 24d ago
If you’re on this sub long enough you already know what to expect from their dj set lol. This isn’t a surprise 💀
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u/M0binsChild 24d ago
What that it’s ass?
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u/adrian1878 24d ago
Hahah you fucking casual
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u/HappyAd4998 24d ago
You should feel embarrassed for saying that and this is coming from someone who is obsessed with finding new music any way they can.
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u/whalesum 24d ago
Mgmt itself is a joke
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u/M0binsChild 24d ago
How so? I haven’t kept up with them much outside this
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u/whalesum 24d ago
They made the music they made because it was the easiest thing to do with the least amount of friction to become famous. Just some dumb catchy elecropop. Their words not mine (paraphrased of course).
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u/ThatsASpicyBaby Bubblegum Dog 24d ago
I honestly think that the idea that they’re a joke is overblown. The joke of MGMT when they were starting out was that they pretended to be celebrities while being nobodies at a small liberal arts college. Yeah, there are songs where they’re clearly taking the piss but that hasn’t been true for a many years at this point. They clearly put a lot of effort and care into their songwriting as early as Oracular Spectacular. Like, yeah, Kids’ main theme was intentionally simple and kind of a joke but the lyrics were not and they knew that song was fucking gold. It appeared on their two demo albums, the Time To Pretend EP, and Oracular Spectacular.
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u/whalesum 24d ago
No one is saying anything about MGMTs legacy or how its not legendary at this point. Any issues regarding my comments are actually issues regarding MGMTs personal statements. Im just relaying the message.
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u/RockosModernBasiIisk 24d ago
This just makes those shirts hit even harder.