Animal Collective @ Grand Ballroom: 1/20/09

So we're going to be honest here, these picture were taken from Brooklyn Vegan. We had our own pictures, and they were quite good because of our proximity to the stage, but we were using a disposable and apparently light got into it and destroyed them. So, that's basically what it looked like.

That being said, I thought this performance was amazing. They opened with "In the Flowers," a song none of us expected, and meandered into their fabulous new song that has been given the name "Blue Sky." "Guys Eyes" is when the concert really took off, as the bass was turned up enough to shake your rib cage. From there, they played an incredible extended version of "Fireworks," with Panda Bear delivering fantastic percussion through all 13 minutes.

"Brother Sport" closed the show, with the audience jumping to the beat so much we thought the ground would collapse beneath us. The encore was decent, featuring a slowed-down version of "Banshee Beat"from Feels and a crowd favorite "Slippi" off Here Comes the Indian. All in all, I was blown away by this show, and strongly encourage anyone who is liking MPP to go see it, especially because the setlist was basically the album tracklist. Enjoy the live version of "Daily Routine" from the show.

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
Banshee Beat
Slippi

Animal Collective- Daily Routine (live @ Grand Ballroom 1/20/09)
Buy album: iTunes

-Chandler


Coming into this show, I'd heard a lot about Animal Collective's live act, both positive and negative things. They have a reputation for being unpredictable, mixing songs together and morphing songs so that they are hardly recognizable. With this is mind, I had no idea what to expect. What I got was a face-full of awesome. I believe that Merriweather Post Pavillion is an album full of songs that explode live. "Guys Eyes" and "Daily Routine" sounded fantastically full with the addition of thumping bass. The show was so loud that my brain rattled around in my head and the hair stood up on my arms. As a huge fan of the material they played, I couldn't have asked for a better night. I look forward to seeing these guys again as soon as possible.

-Chris

I have to say, I was really taken aback by the cleanliness of the show. Animal Collective is an act not always known for their accessibility or their predictability, but I was pleasantly surprised to find that they sounded very crisp. Right from the start of the show, they showed about as much emotion as you could hope for and seemed to be very tuned in to the performance. One slight disappointment was the lack of audience interaction. Although I didn't expect any, I wish they would, because I feel it's an element of live performance that could definitely enhance the overall experience. But this is only a small complaint, they are a really great live show, and apparently they've come a long way from humble beginnings in that regard. And "Daily Routine" was insane. Seriously, listen to the song located in this post. It's mind blowing.

-Donovan