[ATTENDED: March 9, 2022] Animal Collective
We had seen Animal Collective open for Fleet Foxes back in 2017. Their set was fin and weird and I came away thinking that they’re probably even more fun and weird when they are headlining.
This show made me realize how little I know about Animal Collective. I couldn’t even have told you many song names before the show. So I guess I didn’t really know what to expect. Which is apparently good because I gather that every show is different, so no expectations are preferred.
For instance, I thought that each member of the band sang lead. And while that is sort of true the majority of the songs were sung by Avey Tare, who stood up front and played guitar and bass and occasional keys. But it was drummer Panda Bear who lead of the night with the vocals. And to my left, behind a tie-dyed tapestry was Deakin, the keyboardist and occasional guitarist who sang back up and an occasional lead. The only one who didn’t sing (I don’t think) was Geologist, who stood in front of his array of gear (including a hurdy gurdy) creating the foundation of most of the songs while the other three noodled.
Animal Collective songs tend to be weird… maybe or maybe not in a bad way. At the same time, their live show tends to be a little weird too. But it is firmly controlled chaos. You may not know what they are going to do next, but they certainly do.
As the one review (from The Key) notes:
Most of Animal Collective’s set was a will they or won’t they play “the hits” — namely “My Girls”, or even “Leaf House.” Several times in the set and the encore it felt like there were about to just fall into those songs but pulled back at the last second.
I knew in the back of my head that Animal Collective had “hits,” but I had no idea what they were. So I was just there to kick back and enjoy the show.
Every song had a video projection behind it–each video was different and seemed to have something to do with each song.
They played five songs from their new album. It was interesting to judge the popularity of each song by the reaction of the people around me. There was one woman who sang along to every song (even the unreleased ones). Some parts were super catchy, but just about all of the parts were danceable in someway. I was especially intrigued by the songs that featured multiple backing vocals–often Panda Bear singing or almost yodeling.
The crowd reacted very positively to “In the Flowers” (the only song from Merriweather), and as the song built to its super catchy midle section everyone, including the band, was bouncing around to the track.
I really enjoyed the visuals in back of Passer-By as well.
There was a big reaction for “Chores” a rather weird song from Sung Tongs that was a lot of fun. Deakin came out from behind his keys to dance around with his guitar and even Geologist, who always seems too busy to dance was bopping his head around.
I really enjoyed their lengthy song “Defeat (Not a Suite)” which I gather is the new thing they are working on (or something). It’s not available anywhere, It started with Geologist playing the hurdy gurdy and Panda Bear playing drums with his hands rather than sticks. It was slow and warbly as it built over fifteen minutes (!) and Panda Bear sang somewhat operatic lines behind Avey’s lead. The middle had a church like feel to it from Deakin pipe organ effects, and towards the end, there was a part with just Avey and Panda singing wordless melodies while Geologist was making all kinds of cool spacey effects. I wasn’t sure if it was one song or a bunch of songs (sometimes it’s hard to tell with this band). but it did feel like a cohesive piece and it was pretty wonderful.
They ended the set with “Applesauce” one of their more popular songs. And then they took a break.
They came back and played two more unreleased songs and then the crowd went absolutely berserk for “The Purple Bottle.” I didn’t know the song but I quickly caught on why this song was so much fun and such a great show ender. Any song that has a section that features a section like
Then I go and take some pills
Cause I can’t do all of my do’s and still feel ill
You get that, woo!
You get that, woo!
You get that, woo!
You get that, woo!
You get that, woo!
You get that, woo!
You get that, woo!
In which the audience gets to “woo!” is going to be a huge hit and boy was it a fun rollicking song. What a fun night of music.
I happened to check the show they played in Sayreville–the other place I could have seen them and the setlist was almost entirely different. I guess you never know what you;re going to get at an Animal Collective show.
| 2022 | 2017 |
| Screens ⊗ | Lying in the Grass ¶ |
| Cherokee © | Kinda Bonkers ‰ |
| Broke Zodiac ¢ | Sweet Road ¥ |
| Dragon Slayer © | Bees ƒ |
| Genie’s Open ¢
(interpolation of Trains Across The Sea by SilverJews)
|
Daily Routine π |
| In the Flowers π | Guys Eyes π |
| Passer-By © | Water Curses ϖ |
| Chores § | Summertime Clothes π |
| Strung With Everything © | |
| Car Keys © | |
| Defeat (A Not Suite) ¢ | |
| Applesauce ≅ | |
| encore | |
| King’s Walk ¢ | |
| Stride Rite ¢ | |
| The Purple Bottle ƒ |
© Time Skiffs (2022)
‰ The Painters EP (2017)
¶ Painting With (2016)
≅ Centipede Hz (2012)
⊗ ODDSAC (video album) (2010)
π Merriweather Post Pavilion (2009)
ϖ Water Curses (2008)
§ Strawberry Jam (2007)
ƒ Feels (2005)
¥ Sung Tongs (2004)
¢ unreleased
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