Dreams do come true!

Of Montreal stole a substantial portion of my heart years ago when I first heard their bizarre, playful, suspiciously catchy and indescribably fantastic song “Penelope.” I’ve been in love with the former Elephant 6 band ever since, and their latest album ‘Hissing Fauna, Are You The Destroyer?’ is definitely their best work yet. Carrie Tolles and I saw them live last month at Irving Plaza, which was great, but left me hungry for more. If only someone somewhere would find a way to combine my love for Of Montreal, fascination with karaoke and obsession with the cult classic Wet Hot American Summer (WHAS) into one unforgettable evening…

Enter New York Magazine with the answer to my prayers. On Saturday night, as part of their NYxNY series, New York Magazine hosted Indie Rock Karaoke at Studio B, featuring Of Montreal playing a set of their own and then acting as backup band for the few souls brave enough to get up on stage to sing classic rock hits. Alan Shemper (aka Michael Showalter’s character from WHAS) served as emcee for the night of raucous brilliance, offering the crowd a few of his signature so-bad-they’re-good jokes and making my heart long to be back at summer camp.

While I didn’t make it up on stage with the band, scene-stealing actor Paul Rudd and STELLA alum David Wain did (they’re also the star and director of WHAS, respectively), and their passionate rendition of “More Than A Feeling” by Chicago was easily the best cover of the night.

Yes folks, Saturday night was proof that hipster dreams can come true. Too bad I didn’t have a camera with me, but here are some shots from Stereogum…hop on over there or to Brooklyn Vegan to hear more about the show and for more pictures!


Kevin Barnes, lead singer of Of Montreal (pic via Stereogum)












Paul Rudd sings it likes he means it... (again, via Stereogum)