Very few elements of Animal Collective‘s stage performance would point toward a relaxing evening at Merriweather Post Pavilion. The Centipede Hz-heavy set highlighted the album’s metallic crashes, misfiring circuits and soup of glitchy airwave-inspired noises. Behind the four noise makers, seizure-inducing projections of everything from digital lips to time lapsed plant growth played amidst colorful, Dr. Seussian inflatable arms and teeth. Yet, for all the ruckus, much of Animal Collective’s set was surprisingly meditative, leaving the crowd in a blissful state.
To clarify, meditative does not mean boring, although they’re certainly capable of losing a crowd. In fact, the onstage dynamic that they’ve honed in the past year while playing the Centipede Hz songs onstage has become a certifiable collaborative success. The reintroduction of guitarist Deakin (Josh Dibb) into their live lineup on guitar has allowed the reportedly stage fright-addled singer Panda Bear (Noah Lennox) to return to the drum kit, which is the only place onstage where he seems not only comfortable but energized. This meant that the set no longer lived or died by the energy of singer/keyboardist Avey Tare (Dave Portner), but moved due to a very tight chemistry that the three and sound engineer Geologist (Brian Weitz) all shared.
To be fair, Avey Tare still provided many of the show’s early highlights. His intricate vocals shone in Merriweather’s excellent acoustic as the gruff barks, cartoonish squeals and throat emptying hollers rose above “Today’s Supernatural.” That song garnered a shout of approval from the crowd as he sang, “I met you in Baltimore,” and he got more shouts of approval when the band took a break from Centipede Hz material to play bouncy Merriweather Post Pavilion standout, “Lion in a Coma.” It was hardly believable that Geologist’s headlamp was of any use to him the way that he bobbed his head during that song. The set sunk into an actual lull during the extended jam on “Pulleys,” but they brought the crowd to a joyful climax with the one-two punch of “Brother Sport” and Strawberry Jam opener “Peacebone.” “Peacebone” actually allowed Avey Tare the chance to leave his keyboards and mixers and move around the stage, joined by a grinning Deakin.
The band continued to impress with their encore with the sonic booms of “Cobwebs” followed by the glittering scales of “My Girls,” whose omission during last year’s Merriweather show was glaring but unsurprising. They finished the set by slowing down with “Amanita”‘s cacophonous steel drum sound. The crowd was just as fine seeing them end on a non-hit. Although they’ve now racked up quite the catalog of fan favorites at this point, song choices are almost coincidental during an Animal Collective show. What matters is the atmosphere, and they provided one that left the crowd satisfied.
