I don’t think I’ve ever worked harder at liking a band than I have with Animal Collective. I saw them at Metropolis in 2009 when they toured the blogosphere-smashing Merriweather Post Pavillion – and spent half the “show of the summer” ducking the writhing crowds and listening to the PA from the toilet. Shortly thereafter, I bought the skittery Strawberry Jam after my buddy’s empassioned plea to “just hear them on record, man” – and worked myself into a panic attack of uncoolness trying to “get it”. In 2013, I figured I’d had enough personal development to grok them at their return to Metropolis and maybe also win cool-points with the girl I wanted to impress. I don’t think I was able to do either.
So it’s under this cloud of history that I entered the Corona Theatre to reunite with a band that I never successfully liked. And actually, with a much smaller venue and years of distance from their furry grip on the pantheon of taste-making mp3 blogs, I finally enjoyed Animal Collective.
This slow-grow narrative also extends to opener Circuit des Yeux, who provided a fittingly hypnotic table-setter for the rhythmic grooves to come. However, unlike Animal Collective’s bleeps and bloops and yelps, Haley Fohr opts to draw her audience in with dim lighting, ethereal quavers, and a single 12-string guitar. At times, Circuit des Yeux’s rubber band vocals evoke Nico, Joan Baez, and early Shearwater. But even with these touch-points, her steady strums and cryptic words gradually lure listeners into unfamiliar and otherwordly territory. This kind of meditative state creates the perfect opportunity for an artist to surprise their audience. Circuit des Yeux did just that, ending her short set with primal screams and shreds before kneeling to melt once again into hushed whispers and silence.
One then become four, as Avey Tare, Panda Bear, and Geologist took to their stations with a real live drummer bringing up the rear. Animal Collective’s recent record Painting With (as well as its companion EP The Painters) was singled out for its candy-coated cartoon sound, and the band very appropriately opened their set with samples of pig sounds and squelches before bouncing into the mid-tempo pulses and staggered harmonies of “Hocus Pocus”. This soundscape, spread out across the stage before an altar of bizarre statues (looking like Crazy Bones by way of Picasso) and projections of throbbing splatters, created a kinetic energy that floated up from the dance-floor to my comfortable seat on the balcony.
Painting With’s tracklist was also notable for their comparatively shorter run-times, but it seems like the live-setting gives Animal Collective the space and comfort to let these tunes breathe and see where they go. For more relaxed songs like the whim-oh-weh rhythm of “Kinda Bonkers” and the drones of “Guys Eyes”, this wider canvas allowed for an interesting ebb/flow dynamic that was easy enough for me to catch onto and ride. On the other hand, this also made it possible for denser and zanier songs like Painting With opener “FloriDada” and “Summing the Wretch” to stretch out long past their original welcome.
To my huge surprise, the band’s setlist – while giving equal attention to new material and Merriweather Post Pavilion – appears to have purposely left off two of their discography’s two biggest crowdpleasers, “Fireworks” and “My Girls”. Maybe not coincidentally, these are also the songs that helped win them big mainstream attention in the first place, with the former appearing on British drama Skins and the latter being sampled by Beyoncé. But today, the venue is smaller, the crowd seems older, and the band seems much more focused on just having fun – even if it occasionally gets a little self-indulgent.
This all somehow makes it a lot easier to root for these guys. Maybe it’s because I no longer feel the cultural pressure to like them or be left behind by the zeitgeist, or maybe my tastes really have evolved at last. Maybe it’s just because this was the first time that I watched from the balcony instead of flinging myself into a pit of sweaty teens. Whatever the reason, I was finally able to sit back for what felt like ten minutes of “Summertime Clothes” (and its protracted noise collage interlude) with a bobbing head and without groaning or needing to excuse myself for fresh air.
With my track record? That’s an improvement.
Animal Collective Setlist:
Hocus Pocus
Kinda Bonkers
The Burglars
Guys Eyes
FloriDada
Summing the Wretch
Sweet Road
Bees
Pride and Fight
Water Curses
Summertime Clothes
Encore
Peacemaker
Daily Routine
Taste
Review – Dan Corber
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