Animal Collective [Live] @ Club Academy, Manchester

Wednesday 14th January 2009

Expectation for this gig could hardly have been greater, but what the Dickens the crowd made of it all is hard to say. Animal Collective are not exactly crowd pleasers; they don’t pander to their audience, they don’t play ‘the hits’, they don’t say much, and they don’t always perform their songs as the crowd may expect. In short they are as experimental live as they are on record, with their set being equally as organic sounding. You would expect most of the audience to be more than happy that the band maintain this stance throughout all that they do, but judging by some of the comments in the crowd, it seems Animal Collective do have some fans who wish they could reign the band in a little and control the degree to which they experiment and improvise. To be quite honest, they are both backing and flogging the wrong horse here; Animal Collective simply cannot be directed and they will constantly surprise, whether pleasantly or not so. Personally, I find Animal Collective all the more thrilling for being this way, despite it meaning that my hopes for the evening are left a little dashed (mainly by the crowd).

This gig saw Animal Collective arrive back in Manchester at the height of their powers, having just released what many consider to be their finest work to date, nailed on for one of the albums of 2009 already, and even a contender for album of the century. So one may have expected them to have the audience eating out of their palms, hanging on every noise they make. Not so. Since their early gigs, A.C have moved on from the more standard set up of drums and a couple of guitars, to the now almost DJ-like set up of mixers and samplers, with addition of various percussion instruments and just one electric guitar. It certainly suits more recent albums, with each song not so much mixing as morphing naturally into the next, but it may account for why the crowd looked a little confused. Perhaps they came expecting to see a ‘band’ bash out their songs on tour-beaten instruments, and so when they were confronted with something more akin with a dance act or DJ set, they felt a little unprepared, their mood not set for what they were experiencing.

That said, there were a couple of faults on Animal Collective’s part too. For a start their set may not have been too short, but their track listing was. They only got through 12 tracks, and I know they don’t exactly do 3 minute pop songs, but I thought they drew a few of them out a little too much. “Banshee Beat”, the first of their encore, became a little tedious live. When you have 8 albums to draw from, that was an odd choice. The other slightly odd decision was Avey Tare’s rather ill-timed, off-key backing vocals. He added said vocals over Panda Bear’s lead; at times that seemed unnecessary, not allowing PB’s vocals the time to breathe. When taking lead himself however, his vocals were largely excellent, with “Fireworks” and “Summertime Clothes” moving the rather stagnant crowd a little at least.

The highlight though was the fantastic Merriweather closer “Brothersport”, which deserved a full on rave, but typically registered movement with only around a quarter of the crowd at most (and that was good from this lot). It was rather fitting then that they should close with “Almost Frightened”, as it seemed that’s exactly how the crowd felt this evening towards letting go and having a good time. The days of Animal Collective gigs being a beard stroking affair should be long gone, particularly since the release of Merriweather Post Pavillion. Going to see A.C should be like going to a club to see your favourite DJ; about letting go and becoming lost in the moment, albeit naturally rather than chemically. Sometimes, A.C fans, you can actually show your love for this band. I think they’d quite like it if you did.

Set List:

#1
Guys Eyes
Summertime Clothes
Leafhouse
Lion in a Coma
My Girls
New Song
Fireworks
Slippi

Encore

Banshee Beat
Also Frightened

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