I was prepared to spend all of Inauguration Day in tears. No, not because America managed to aggregate enough common sense to prevent the utter destruction of the Earth by preventing THIS from happening. Rather, because I would be spending January 20th listening to my pirated copy of Merriweather Post Pavillion, instead of seeing the Collective of Animals perform it live.
Despite a morbidly unanimated crowd, Animal Collective played a fantastic set. (Check the end of the post for the set list). Just as they surprised TV audiences by choosing to play #1 on David Letterman instead of their more accessible material, they ended their show with Banshee Beat and Slippi, lesser known gems from earlier albums.
This is precisely the great part of seeing Animal Collective; seeing them stay true to what they hold important in their music and comparing their recorded material to their live material. Intros and outros are beautifully mutilated, spurts of new songs are interjected in between material I already know and love, songs melt into each other like ice in the sun (maybe slightly faster). Their material always feels alive; THEY always feel alive, even without crazy theatrics and stage antics. Panda Bear (Noah Lennox) seemed particularly inspired by the new material, and really came into his own when performing "Guys Eyes". Geologist, as if in a cave, hid in the grottos ofthe stage, mostly visible by the light emanating from his helmet. Avey yelped with excitement, curling into his mic (as always).
Despite this, it's obvious they haven't fully figured out how to transfer the orchestration of their recorded albums to the stage (I doubt they'll ever be able to replicate it, nor is it neccessary, nor do I want them too). Some tracks seemed to lack the layered complexity that I'd grown accustomed too. I like wwimming in a sea of electronic buzzes and beeps.
I ran into Avey Tare (David Portner) after seeing Animal Collective at South Street Seaport in 2007. I was disappointed they didn't play "Grass". He explained to me that they haven't really figured out how to play every song live yet. It's clear that it's still true. Their performance isn't disappointing, however, just notably different. Perhaps live, it's more real- more accessible, more grounded in the realm of the plausible.
Setlist:
1. "Dancer" : (unreleased)
2. "Leaf House" : Sung Tongs
3. "Blue Sky" : (unreleased)
4. "Song for Ariel" : (unreleased)
5. "Bearhug" / "Summertime Clothes" : Merriweather Post Pavilion
6. "Daily Routine" : Merriweather Post Pavillion
7. "Lion in a Coma" : Merrweather Post Pavillion
8. "Fireworks" : Strawberry Jam
9. "My Girls" : Merriweather Post Pavillion
10. "Brother Sport" : Merriweather Post Pavillion
E N C O R E
11. "Banshee Beat" : Feels
12. "Slippi" : Here Comes the Indian
And as an aside: abbreviating Merriweather Post Pavillion to MPP makes me really uncomfortable.
2. "Leaf House" : Sung Tongs
3. "Blue Sky" : (unreleased)
4. "Song for Ariel" : (unreleased)
5. "Bearhug" / "Summertime Clothes" : Merriweather Post Pavilion
6. "Daily Routine" : Merriweather Post Pavillion
7. "Lion in a Coma" : Merrweather Post Pavillion
8. "Fireworks" : Strawberry Jam
9. "My Girls" : Merriweather Post Pavillion
10. "Brother Sport" : Merriweather Post Pavillion
E N C O R E
11. "Banshee Beat" : Feels
12. "Slippi" : Here Comes the Indian
And as an aside: abbreviating Merriweather Post Pavillion to MPP makes me really uncomfortable.
3 comments:
you know what makes me uncomfortable your "hard on" for animal collective
- Bitter Bestie
You know you like it Bitter. YOU KNOW YOU DO.
i say, "mwahahaha+dolphin calls"
i think its great!
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