Concert Review: Animal Collective Wows Audience at Fox Theater

By Rebecca Gayle
Staff Writer

A few weeks ago, when I should have been starting to study for finals, I instead paid a visit to the Oakland Fox Theater to see Animal Collective, a band that has very recently shot to the very top of my list of favorite indie rock groups. I had only begun listening to Animal Collective a few months ago, but quickly became obsessed with its experimental sound – distinctly characterized by extensive electronic manipulations, heavy sound layering, and vocals that can be sudden and choppy or smooth and continuous, depending on which of the band’s two vocalists steer the songs.

When I heard that Animal Collective was paying a trip to the Bay Area and also playing in the newly restored and re-opened Fox Theater, I was ecstatic to check out both the band and the already highly acclaimed venue. Even several weeks afterwards, I still feel excited to have experienced Animal Collective at the Fox.

Animal Collective’s set marked a celebration of experimental and indie rock at its finest, which became all the more evident after the much less-than-impressive opening act. On paper, Animal Collective’s choice to have Grouper – a noise rock female solo artist who moans into her microphone and plays extended ethereal chords on her electric guitar – open for them made sense because of the similar experimentalism of both bands’ music. Live, though, Grouper’s creation of tragic, haunting, and indiscernible sounds suggested that her musical experimentation was mostly aimed at those who experiment with too much alcohol, morphine and other downers. Once Grouper finished her somnolence-inducing opening set and Animal Collective took the stage, however, the mood of the concert improved immensely, and everyone there started to enjoy themselves and the music again.

Much like the band’s albums, Animal Collective used the roughly hour-and-a-half-long set time to display its dexterity in crafting amazingly intricate and interesting sounds, as well as augmenting them with lyrics that can be both carefree and unpredictable or philosophical and contemplative.

The band’s set borrowed heavily from its newest album, Merriweather Post Pavilion – a masterpiece of 11 thoughtful and contemplative songs – along with one song apiece from four of its eight studio albums, including Animal Collective’s first album, Spirit They’re Gone, Spirit They’ve Vanished. For the entire duration of the show, Animal Collective’s three members – Avey Tare, Geologist and Panda Bear – were intently bent over their synthesizers, keyboards, and drum machines, looping sounds together and even feeding songs into the middle of other songs before returning to the original song and ending the 15-minute-or-longer isolated jam sessions.

What impressed me most about Animal Collective was not only the band’s ability to deliver its craft expertly, but also the extent to which the band members embodied the ideals they so often sing about. A major theme of Animal Collective’s Merriweather Post Pavilion dwells on the vacuousness of a materialistic life, as is most clearly evident in the lyrics of “My Girls”: “I don’t mean to seem like I care about material things like a social status / I just want four walls and adobe slabs for my girls”. Animal Collective further capitalized on this message of anti-materialism with a very sparsely set stage with simple gimmicks that included plastic-covered instruments lit up by colorful, flashing lights, a backdrop of the Merriweather Post Pavilion album cover, and a giant beach ball on which the band played a series of self-compiled avant-garde videos. The band members’ T-shirt attire and lack of a distinct “look” further highlighted their no-bells-and-whistles-only-substance approach to music and allowed the audience to focus its attention on the band’s music, which was truly one of the most refreshing parts of the show.

My experience seeing Animal Collective live not only makes me appreciate the band’s talent and craft even more as I continue to obsess over their new album and delve into their previous work, but it also makes me yearn to return to the Fox Theater because of the unique backdrop and intimate venue space it provided. With its already stellar summer and fall lineups that include big-name groups like Sonic Youth, Of Montreal and Kylie Minogue, as well as its history of hosting acts like Green Day, B.B. King, and Modest Mouse, I know I will be at the Fox much sooner than later.

Rebecca Gayle is a second-year pharmacy student who will serve as Synapse’s Entertainment Editor starting in the fall.