May 04, 2016
Animal Collective are in the middle of a huge tour. For listeners, their (outstanding) tenth album, Painting With, has only been out for three short months. That February 19th release date, Avey Tare, Geologist, Panda Bear, and part-time drummer Jeremy Hyman (Ponytail, Avey Tare's Slasher Flicks), marked the beginning of a long and ever growing tour. Having added international dates (as well as an extension of their US tour and a new string of shows after Europe), and their own music festival.
Eagerly awaiting their performance in Detroit deep into the opening leg of their US tour, I was worried fatigue might hold back this dynamic, exciting live act. I was wrong.
Animal Collective is one of those bands whose concerts help blur the line between "show" and "concert." Having seen iterations of this band several times over the years, I can say on good authority no two shows are the same. Frequent collaborator (and Avey Tare's sister) Abby Portner consistantly puts together a set design and light show that, without the music, would make for a compelling night out.
The Painting With tour represents a more subdued version of Portner's visual ability: previous tours featured their set contained within the mouth of a giant centipede (guess which album they were backing then?!).
For Painting With, which only features three of the principal members of Animal Collective, her design matches both the limited space their instrumentation absorbs, and draws emphasis on Panda, Geologist, and Avey. Hyman drums from a raised platform, with lots of odds and ends around him, and her constant mapping and remapping of images over the players further distorts the forth man. This effect is perhaps best seen during the visualization of deep cut "Bees," which, while a bit on the nose, puts swarms of bees over the collected animals on stage.
Back in February, I was happy to see Animal Collective during the first week of touring the new record. Because of how poorly the crowd behaved at that show (seriously, tisk tisk Columbus, Ohio!), I found my eagerness for this show amplified: I wanted to be able to see the band, interact with a crowd of fellow fans who knew the bulk of the set, despite it coming off of the new record. As opener Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith brought her spectacular synth-driven set to a close, the excitement tangibly swelled within the venue. A quick survey of the crowd revealed fans of all ages, from various points in Animal Collective's career. Kids donning tour shirts, middle aged dudes in merch from before 2009's breakout hit "My Girls" which recently found a lyric borrowed in Beyonce's Lemonade. Finally, the lights went down.
The band opened up the show with an extended version of album closer "Recycling" which set the tone for the night and displays much of the fun Painting With had to offer the Michigan crowd. Featuring harmonies shared (more like dueled) between Tare and Panda, Geologist made sure to keep the instrumentals weird, and Hyman from atop his drumming throne kept a frantic pace.
The crowd was wild for the new material, but went particularly nuts "Floridada," "On Delay," and "Vertical." Giving one nod to their critical breakthrough (Merriweather Post Pavilion), I was surprised there wasn't more excitement for "Daily Routine," which Panda stretched his vocals out on for some long, almost operatic notes, and Geologist let the organ samples play out to almost mind-numbing lengths. Other deep cuts included Feels' hits "Loch Raven" and "Bees."
For new fans of Animal Collective, clearly the highlight of the show was the very end of the encore: "Golden Gal," teased during a long outro jam on "Hounds of Barrio" (a non-album B-side). Of the feel-good singalongs, this one was leaps and bounds the loudest despite coming at the end of a nearly-two hour long set.
However, for old fans, the real treat came mid-way through the regular set. Hailing from an album attributed to Tare & Panda (before Animal Collective was named, even) Spirit, They're Gone, Spirit They've Vanished's cult classic closing track, "Alvin Row." A soft piano-driven song that puts Avey Tare's undistorted vocals in a rare spotlight. This tour is the first time Animal Collective have performed "Alvin Row" live, and for the (surprisingly few considering the band's long history with Royal Oak Music Theater) folks there who recognized that song as the rare gem it is, the night was already complete.
There's a lot of tour left, so no excuses to miss these guys: wether you've been around since before the Animals were Collected, or you're just stopping by now to do a little Painting With Animal Collective is a must see band.
Like they yelp in "Floridada," or in tonight's case when the crowd yelped at them: "its the key to the everywhere place." In the crowd, I had a better idea of what that place feels like.