MGMT's Kids is one of those still-ubiquitous electronic pop anthems that can instantly transport us to a simpler, more carefree, pre-streaming age. But few know that the song, the third single from the band's 2007 debut Oracle Spectacular, had long been a staple of the duo's very early live performances
Newly unearthed footage from 2003, uploaded by Rad Scientist on YouTube captures the pair - Andrew VanWyngarden and Ben Goldwasser - in embryonic form, performing a live set to mark Zonker Harris Day (April 20th) at the university where the pair met and started the band; Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut
The footage, features an extended version of Kids - and sounds every bit as buoyant and infectious as the later Grammy-nominated studio version -a jaw-dropping five years ahead of its commercial release.
VanWyngarden and Goldwasser perform the track with irresistible enthusiasm and energy, as the footage below shows. The crowd size is notably small, particularly when compared to the massive festivals they'd play by the end of the decade. But boy, does that tiny crowd look like its having a blast.
The performance is interspersed with the pair battling with a red-painted tree branches - very much living out a live-action music video
The footage, split into 6 parts is watchable in full via a playlist on Rad Scientist's YouTube channel. The drop of these astounding clips has triggered some resonant commentary from fans.
"How did YouTube know that this is exactly what we all needed on December 1st 2024?" said one user, while another pointed out how lucky that tiny 2003 crowd were: "Imagine being one of 30 odd people dancing away to this banger being performed by two students on their college campus. And then years later turning on the TV and seeing tens of thousands of people getting into the exact same groove when those two students are now performing it at Glastonbury and Coachella," said user triptothemoon8171
"What a masterpiece. Those people attending had no idea they were blessed with this exclusive performance 5 years ahead of the release of the song," aptly stated user marcomerkbruno
Earlier this year, we spoke to MGMT about their latest album, Loss of Life. Benjamin Golwasser told us that the pair's original vibrant style was partially born out of irony; "I think we had a playful approach to the idea of pop stardom. A lot of that came from us starting a band while we were in college and playing at parties. The irony was thick, but that dissipated pretty quickly when we started getting attention from a major label and playing festivals.”
Andrew VanWyngarden continues, "We were building a fantasy about participating in the world as ‘pop stars’, but we had no idea how to even release music. Flash forward six years and we maintained that irreverent approach while making music for a giant corporation but still didn’t have any expectations for what it could be. Once things blew up, we were rapidly forced to change.”
Read our full interview over here, and head over to Rad Scientist's YouTube channel to watch the full performance
