Animal Collective at First Avenue on 5/20/09

By: David de Young

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Animal Collective at First Avenue - Twitpic courtesy of Chuck Olsen

Last night I saw Animal Collective at First Avenue. It was my first time seeing them live (though we reviewed their 2007 First Avenue appearance here.) I’d been eagerly anticipating the show after enjoying Merriweather Post Pavilion, their highly-praised 2009 album and one of my favorite discs of the year. MPP hits some of the emotional buttons in me that conjure up sunny days in the ‘80s listening to OMD or the vocal harmonies of the Cocteau Twins, or (more recently) carefree days in the ‘00s listening to Modest Mouse.


Hearing their live show webcast from DC on May 11^th, 2009 by All Songs on NPR clinched the deal. The show sounded magical on the interweb. I listened twice, and through my stereo speakers it transformed my living room each time. So I tracked down a ticket to the sold-out show and made it down to First Avenue.

Animal Collective had a big inflatable ball set up behind the First Avenue Screen that people joked might contain Wayne Coyne from The Flaming Lips, but no, ultimately it turned out to be just an orb that served as a spherical projection screen. Before the curtain screen rose, strains of Husker Du’s “Don’t Wanna Know if You Are Lonely” filled the room at concert volume, setting expectations high. Then came the show.

The show definitely had its moments, and highlights from the album (songs like “Summertime Clothes,” “My Girls,” “Lion in a Coma”) definitely caught my attention. But the moments were too far between, and for most of the night I felt like I was on the outside of the music listening in, not “one with it” as I had when listening in the car that morning. I spent most of the set restlessly wandering around First Avenue from the main floor (all ages admittance meant no drinks were allowed down there) to the balcony trying to find a spot that made sense for me to be, where I would fit into it all, where I could see, hear and enjoy.

Still, there wasn’t much worth looking at going on on stage (save a tasteful and cool light show), and the sounds coming from the stage were less engaging than they are in their recorded versions. At the same time, it was clear that people were really enjoying themselves. The dancing masses in the center of the room on the main floor obviously felt the love, and that was not lost on me. (At least one of my own friends emerged from the crowd sweating and smiling.) It just didn’t translate into something I could experience for myself.

Had I been 20 years younger, perhaps on psychotropic drugs, and dancing in that throng it would have been a different show for me, and I have no desire to tread on the enjoyment those people clearly had. (Nothing against drugs either, they just don’t mix well with 9 a.m. corporate meetings the next morning.) Instead, I found myself looking forward to the show ending so I could grab the dinner I had somehow forgotten to eat before hand.

Fortunately, today, Merriweather Post Pavilion sounds just as good, perhaps even better than yesterday.

1. Chocolate Girl
2. Who Could Win a Rabbit
3. Summertime Clothes
4. Guys Eyes
5. Chores
6. Also Frightened
7. Sky
8. Lion in a Coma
9. My Girls
10. Lablakely Dress
11. Fireworks

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Location Info: First Avenue
Artist Info: Animal Collective

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