This has been some month for Animal Collective. They released one of the most buzzed about albums in memory, with many calling it the best of 2009 already. Yesterday the acclaimed album “Merriweather Post Pavilion” finally came out on CD (Came out 2 weeks ago on vinyl) and they returned to NYC to make their first MPP performance at the Grand Ballroom. The theater was packed with hipsters young and old. There were many hot lady hipsters in attendance on a quick side note….
Opening band Blues Control was alright, most people talked right over them but than again it isn’t the band’s fault. These people are dying to see Panda Bear, Avey Tare, and The Geologist. They had a few cool songs but overall I didn’t really get much out of them. Sorry guys!
Animal Collective came on and the room exploded with anticipation. They started it off properly with the great MPP opener “In The Flowers”. The crowd was completely into it dancing/moving along with the building beat. I was amazed at how well Avey and Panda’s vocals sounded live, they really do the songs justice. They quickly went into the older classic “Leaf House” and the crowd completely ate it up, it was one of the many highlights of the night. The band then gave us a taste of a new song “Blue Sky” which took some time to build up but the end result was nice. From then they hit 4 MPP songs in a row, one of which really blew me away just as I hoped: “Summertime Clothes”. They gave us a really strong performance of “Summertime Clothes” that got everyone dancing along to the beat and signing along eagarly. It was one the best moments of the night for me. The biggest moment of the night was the mega 3 song monster combo of “Fireworks”, “My Girls”, and “Brother Sport”. “Fireworks” has become a classic already with a really great singalong from the crowd really connecting to Avey. They extended it for almost 12 minutes leading into the new fan favorites “My Girls” and “Brother Sport” which got the crowd dancing wildly, making the floor fucking feel like it was moving like a wave up and down!! Avey made every scream and lyric count not letting up any of his passion or emotions. While Panda Bear really impressed me with his singing abilitiy live, adding in some new impressive falsettos on “Daily Routine”.
They came back for an encore of the amazing epic “Feels” track “Banshee Beat” that really showed the band had some much depth aside from their MPP bass heavy tracks. It was a reminder of the older Animal Collective, and it was an epic moment. They ended the set with the reworked “Slippi” which was the most “rock oriented” tracks of the night giving the crowd something really to move along to. However I expected a more epic finish with something like “Grass”, “Peacebone”, or something that the crowd would really freak out towards. They had the crowd in their control and they really could have ended it with a bigger bang!!!
All in all I thoroughly enjoyed the show. The crowd was high as a kite, and they really made it that much better. The strobe lights really added something to the songs, and made the show a true experience. I just wish they could have played more tracks from MPP such as “Bluish” and “No More Runnin”. Like I enjoyed “Fireworks” but those 12 minutes could have been shortened down so more songs could be played. Oh well, you can’t have it all can you? They put on one hell of a performance last night, and if you are seeing them tonight at the Bowery, have a good time!!! I hope to buy tickets for their Terminal 5 performance as well!
Setlist
In The Flowers
Leaf House
Blue Sky
Guys Eyes
Summertime Clothes
Daily Routine
Lion in a Coma
Lablakely Dress
Fireworks
My Girls
Brother Sport
Encore
Banshee Beat
Slippi
nyc taper recorded the show for us and here are a few mp3s!!:
[mp3] : Animal Collective – Summertime Clothes (Live 1/20/09 NYC)
[mp3] : Animal Collective – My Girls (Live 1/20/09 NYC)
[mp3] : Animal Collective – Banshee Beat (Live 1/20/09 NYC)
Also as another bonus check out the 2 videos I recorded of My Girls and Fireworks!!:
My Girls
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eORmI_7yiFU
Fireworks
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6TCIqQ7Jidg
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