Animal Collective

Concerts are likely how music started out. I like to imagine that the first notes of music (or beats) were followed up immediately by a concert to surrounding friends. Then more people became spectators and wanted to try their hand at it followed by even more and as time went on along with eventual leaps in technology as well as artistry, concerts became not just a thing of joy but a significant part of life and culture… even a means of communication.

Of course, I wasn’t there for all this, so it’s probably quite easy to invalidate – though for the sake of my reaction to the Animal Collective show I saw last night, such reasoning seems to be the same thing that fuels their music. They sound as though they’re not just trying to continue the tradition as it has been going for all these years. Rather, they want to know what it was like to be one of those first to compose music, completely devoid of any knowledge of scales, beats per minute, or any theoretical jargon. They wanted to pound on drums, sing, scream, dance, forcing everyone in the audience to join them.

Walking in, I had a forewarning that the band had a reputation for playing songs not found on their albums. Maybe one or two, but that’s about it. The only other element I had in my mind was their Coachella ‘06 show where Avey Tare’s face was covered in purple paint. So while standing outside, I could only preemptively gauge how great a show with a singer who colors his face and a “set” so to speak that would involve songs of dissonant-turned-melodic soundscapes to which I have no prior attachment. It sounded fantastic. At the very least, I was right about it being fantastic.

When they came out, the stage looked surprisingly sparse. To the left was the Geologist who was, for a vast duration of the show hunched over his samples, knobs and dials with a light on his head that was amusingly tracking his movements to the music. To the right was Panda Bear who had his own podium of sound controls as well as a small drum set. In the middle was Tare, who served as the lead singer and general all-around player that even had a guitar for a few songs. What he mainly had, though, was stage space. So much, in fact, that fog machines served to try and mask it. The drum set was barely visible to the audience, and so behind them there was essentially nothing, giving Avey Tare room to frolic to his music. The sparsity added to the general feel that this show was about everyone. They were on ground that really wasn’t all that different from our floor space.

Opening with “Peacebone,” it was almost immediately clear that this show was meant to make the audience dance or, at the very least, jump around like fools. Between the flashing lights, Tare’s animated performance, and the overall primal boom of their live sound, it was just impossible to ignore. And the sounds never stop. Even between familiar songs (which fortunately there were more than a mere two), the only cue that things are changing is a sudden halt to the samples or slowed down percussion, but one sound or another will bleed into the next part. It would be unfair to say they came out on stage and just played songs, as it was really one long celebration of this particular Tuesday night that we all spent together – audience and band. It was fun.

Of course, there was one halt, when Avey Tare mentioned that they had a few more tunes for us. That’s when “Fireworks” began, which marked the climactic end to the show. In this celebration, this was the closing crescendo that brought more of the audience moving than any part of the show prior. The song triumphantly galloped along, with the Geologist frantically getting into it, Panda Bear bashing away at the drums and Tare howling away. It was the perfect close, and then capped with a plodding rendition of “Who Could Win a Rabbit” that, when it was over, the audience was stomping for more.

There was no paint involved and, while there were definitely pieces I didn’t recognize, there was enough for me to get excited about, particularly “Leaf House.” I was wrong about these specific particular elements of the show, but it was no specific part that made it what it was. More than any show before it, I watched three regular-looking men have a blast, and they roped all of us in on their fun. With such an emphasis on making the show as energized and stripping many of their more lush songs to these primal essential elements, I’d even say that non-fans would be able to enjoy one of these shows. If Animal Collective comes to town, bring people you’re not afraid to look foolish near and brace for a memorable evening.

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