MGMT performs at Art Attack on Friday.

It started as a dull roar from the bleachers. The sound of thousands chanting “Kids” in the cold, windy air, only ceasing once the final students filed out of Byrd Stadium’s gates.

But alternative rock band MGMT didn’t indulge the crowd by performing its 2007 hit during its 80-minute set at Art Attack XXX on Friday night, leaving some students disappointed and heading for the exits before the show was over.

Instead, the band played a show that mixed other old classics with new cuts — for every hit like “Electric Feel” or “Time to Pretend,” there was a song to which the audience couldn’t sing along.  

Sophomore Ben Strack said he felt cheated by the glaring omission of Grammy-nominated “Kids.”

“When they came out for the encore, we figured they’d end with ‘Kids,’” said Strack, a journalism major. “It was cold; people were tempted to leave, but people wanted to hear that song. I haven’t been this disappointed since Craig Robinson’s performance at the Homecoming Comedy Show.”

Strack said he assumed the band would stick the song at the very bottom of the set list, a fitting end to the show. But when MGMT returned for an

encore, lead singer Andrew VanWyngarden chose to play the more obscure “Siberian Breaks” — a 12-minute track off the band’s 2010 LP Congratulations.

“I felt like the entire time everyone was just waiting for them to play it, and when they didn’t, everyone was just left frustrated and disappointed,” said Anthony Huynh, a junior information systems and marketing major, who posted in the Art Attack Facebook event that he’d be “salty” if MGMT went “anti-mainstream” and didn’t perform “Kids.”

Not every audience member was unhappy, however. There was a collective scream when students recognized the opening lines to “Time To Pretend,” “Flash Delirium” and “Electric Feel.”

For freshman Kit Winner, these moments — along with a sneak peek at some yet-to-be-released material — were enough.

“It was exactly what I was expecting,” said the Japanese and linguistics major. “What they’ve been doing more recently is a lot more experiential. You just sort of sit and appreciate and listen to it.”

Ticket sales actually exceeded last year’s show by nearly 2,000; Student Entertainment Events sold close to 7,700 tickets, said SEE Concerts Director Kiera Zitelman.

The opening acts for MGMT were met with mixed reactions as well. The Ready Set successfully whipped the crowd into a frenzy with energetic pop and students seemed to respond positively to Battle of the Bands winner Leftist, which included a reference to this university in almost every song.  

“At first I thought [Leftist] was not so good, but then I warmed up to them,” said Daniel Weintraub, a freshman journalism major. “Then I heard [second act] Kuroma, and I started appreciating Leftist a lot more.”

MGMT took the stage at about 8:45 p.m., but as the show progressed, the excitement for “Kids” turned into urgency as students waited in the cold to hear the song — not an unexpected move for MGMT, Zitelman said.

“They didn’t play ‘Kids,’ and they usually don’t,” said Zitelman. “I think people kind of realized that from reading about their past shows this week.”

Still, the exclusion made the whole show a disappointment for Strack and his friend.

“I would have been fully satisfied if they ended their set with ‘Kids,’” said Strack. “But instead, me and my friend left disappointed.”