Animal Collective continued on with their California tour today after rolling through San Francisco last night ot play the Great American Music Hall. Anticipation amongst the crew was especially hyped given that a few of us had time to digest the show we saw on Sunday night in Petaluma, and last night’s show delivered the exact same set (basically) with an entirely better sound system and a vastly improved mix over the first time I had heard these new tracks. All in all a great show and me and my whole crew enjoyed what we saw. The opener, Sun Araw, was pretty interesting, too. I’ll definitely have to give them some more listens.
Pitchfork had a great writeup from the show that really captured the sentiment of what I felt after the show. It’s a very new Animal Collective to me and it’s exactly what I love about that band; they keep their audience guessing, wishing and wanting more every time.
Forget the idea of this band “tuning up” for the big gig. By the time Avey Tare told the crowd, “We’ve got a lot of new jams we’re playing, hope that’s cool,” the group had worked through six new tracks and no one was complaining. And if past work is any indication, these new songs will change as they undergo a months-long incubation period in the live setting.
The mix was really the key; the sound at Petaluma was awful and the sound last night was pristine where I was standing. Can’t beat that. If you’re going to Coachella I’d definitely consider the band must-see.
Sadly I didn’t have a camera with me and only one video has hit YouTube so far; this is the one that the fans are calling “Take This Weight” …
Let’s hope some more media turns up.
