Event Animal Collective
City Los Angeles
State California
Venue Henry Fonda Theatre
Date February 26, 2009
One trip to [linkedtext link = "http://www.myanimalhome.net"]myanimalhome.net/voniva[/linkedtext] Animal Collective’s website, will instantly put you in a great mood. Though the site lacks the helpful tidbits one usually encounters on a band’s official site – tour dates, bios, maybe a photo gallery? – What appears is a Blue Man Group inspired music video of “My Girls,” one of the freshest songs just released from their ninth album, Merriweather Post Pavilion. The band opened with this track on Thursday night at The Fonda, and suddenly the chatter and mindless rocking to and fro exploded in full-fledged rhythmic excitement. I was thrust from row 11 to row 4 by a swarm of fans eager to be as close as possible to the action. The stage looked more like a science lab than a stage at a rock concert, with scores of buttons and dials in the center, operated by Avey Tare (David Portner), while Panda Bear (Noah Lennox) controlled percussion, and Geologist (Brian Weitz, aptly named for the headlamp he wears to see all of his controls) handles more electronics, samples and back-up vocals. Going into the concert I half expected to see 40 people onstage, playing anything from the chandelier to the hubcap, and was amazed at the mind-blowingly pure music that came from the three men.
The set had many highlights and an amazing encore that included “Leaf House” from Sung Tongs, Animal’s sixth album. The complicated layers of sound that tickled the ears so perfectly were underscored by the simplicity of the lighting design. Little three foot high T-shaped light stands with colored bulbs screamed as Tare hit the high notes with a voice so pure he could have trained at an elite choir school somewhere. (Do they have choir schools?)
The concert was a perfect celebration of Animal’s latest album; it is far from what you hear on the radio, categorized usually as “psych folk,” but near something you could never imagine wanting to hear so much. If I closed my eyes, I could have been anywhere from the middle of the Brazilian Jungle to the passenger seat of a high-speed car chase. The experience of hearing their collaborations live was not entirely different from listening to their album for me because I was anticipating being able to pinpoint the unique sounds. But the massive machines the three masterminds of sound operated ensure that I will remain in quandary. It’s OK; Animal Collective pushes the boundaries of sound and in doing that, creates music so unique that it evokes the senses.
Check out our full set of Animal Collective concert photos.
Tags: animal collective
Music
Film & TV
