The Aragon hosted the most solid night of live music I’ve been fortunate to catch in a loooong time on Friday night. MGMT and Beck rocked their second consecutive sold out Chicago set to the eager diverse crowd of lucky ticket holders with many memorable moments.

MGMT must have kicked things off on the dot at the 7:30 PM start time—I made the mistake of thinking I could waltz right into this Uptown music spot at the starting time, but was taken back to see a line around the block, all the way behind the venue. (I guess this Beck fellow is quite the popular lad.) Oops. As a result, I missed the first few numbers but managed to catch the last handful of this neo-psychedelic pop rockin’ group bust out their popular live show.

This was my third time catching MGMT, following SXSW this past March and Lolla’s full crowd in August so it was a change in pace catching the show from indoors vs. the typical outdoor festival surroundings. The group had a solid presence and flailed out my personal faves, the key-heavy poptastic single “Kids” and the melodically epic “Pieces of What.” Keys and guitars were blended effortlessly with the soulful Neil Youngesque/ David Bowieish lyrical beds. The crowd seemed to dig the set thoroughly and MGMT served as the perfect opening act for what was to come.

The Aragon, however, had less than ideal acoustics and as a result all the sound for the evening came across as empty and echoic—maybe because of the dome shape of the concert hall? I don’t know—it was unfortunate, however, that the orchestral swanky 70’s rock swagger styles of this popular musical troupe were distorted amongst the pockets of spaces of the venue. What were your favorite MGMT highlights? Did anyone catch the opening number?

Beck, however, could not be faltered on account of the venue’s less than exceptional sound set-up. I didn’t catch Thursday’s night show, but I’m guessing that must have been more of a platform of Modern Guilt than last eve’s set. Friday’s show seemed to be more of a “Best Of” showcase—as things were kicked off right with the classic goodie, “Devil’s Haircut.” Excitement built instantly and I was thrilled to soak in such a gem—but it only got better from there. Rockin’ his fedora and signature flannel jacket, Beck wasted no time with stage banter or small talk, but kept kickin’ things off with older treats from his entire discography—from Odelay, Guero, The Information, Midnight Vultures to Mellow Gold—it was all accounted for. It was impossible for me to recollect an entire set list, but I think I managed to scribble the majority of highlights down—following the kickoff number was the highly danceable “Girl,” “Timebomb,” Modern Guilt’s “Soul of a Man,” “Que Onda Guero,” my all time Beck fave “New Pollution,” and the Information’s “Nausea.”

I could barely believe my ears when Beck and crew broke into his old school hit “Loser.” I thought musical iconic legends such as Beck were banned from digging that far back with such hits—but I was wrong, and it was awesome. Suddenly, I was flashed back to sixth grade, wearing out my cassette versions of Mellow Gold and Odelay, which I had acquired illegally under the age of 18 through BMG music club. Hearing all this old school Beck made me feel all sorts of warm and fuzzy inside that I can only credit my earliest music history memories with—but I’m sure the Miller Lites also helped. I can honestly say I never expected to hear a live performance of “Loser” and “Where it’s At” in the same night—but I did, along with the Nintendo version of “Hell Yes,” “Black Tambourine,” “Cellphone’s Dead,” “Chemtrails,” and “Think I’m in Love.”

The encore was equally spectacular of course, with Modern Guilt’s first single “Gamma Ray” and Guero’s “E-Pro” closing out the night. Again, I was surprised to only pick up on three tracks from the new release, but I was not let down in any way, shape or form. Beck rocked my face off—just as I knew he would. The twinkling light bulb back drop only reinforced my suspicion that such a magical night of live tunes had to have been a dream—but I’m pretty sure there were a few others in attendance that can back up my experience as well. Did anyone catch Thursday night’s show? Was it the same general showcase or was there more representation of Modern Guilt? What did you all think of MGMT?