Venue: Menza pri koritu, Metelkova, Ljubljana
Concert date: 15.10.2008
Attendance: 500
Ticket price: 15 € with reservation, 18 € on the day of the show – SOLD OUT!
The American-Portuguese team-up of four musicians known as Animal Collective served us a very special kind of musical therapy for body and soul on Thursday, October 16. The pampering kicked off a little after half past ten at night and lasted about an hour and a half, warming our hearts with a mix of country, bluegrass, folk and Americana, all of it enriched with touches of electronics and a whole lot of improvisation. On top of that, the emphasis was also on the visual experience and a magical dance of lights.
A proper overture to the night came courtesy of violinist Karl Bauer – Axolotl and his psychedelic-experimental house. An artist who explores the wide-open plains of noise in his musical structures, he can boast more than twenty albums, mostly self-released. His set, which lasted a good half hour, was too short for plenty of people in the crowd, and quite a few of them quietly grumbled about it. They all agreed that a virtuoso like Axolotl could have kept going well into the night.
But there was no time for wishful thinking. Avey Tare (David Portner), Panda Bear (Noah Lennox) and Geologist (Brian Weitz) had already taken the stage. Sadly, the collective wasn’t complete, since the guys recently parted ways with Deakin (Josh Dibb). Their musical adventure goes back to 1992, when they plugged their instruments into every effect imaginable. They developed their own language, because the guys communicate best through music alone. And if Animal Collective are famous for their wacky costumes in loud colors and crazy shapes, they didn’t spring any such surprises in Ljubljana. Bad luck for the audience, good luck for the small stage of Menza pri koritu. The closest thing to an animal was Geologist, with a little lamp strapped to his head. Who doesn’t remember the Czech cartoons about Krtek, the little mole?
The psychedelic idyll, which built up from track to track, was made up mostly of instrumental tunes from all seven of their released albums, among which it’s worth mentioning “Water Curses”, “Spirit They`re Vanished”, “Peacebone”, “Grass”, “Leaf House”, “Fireworks”, “Who Could Win A Rabbit” and “The Purple Bottle”. Of course, tracks from the upcoming studio album “Merriweather Post Pavilion”, which the guys promise for early next year, were on the menu too. As a taste of what’s coming, they played “My Girls”, “Summertime Clothes”, “Daily Routine” and “Bluish”. Animal Collective once again went beyond their own boundaries and served up something totally fresh and never heard before. No wonder, since the upcoming album is supposed to be one of their best.
The crowd, warmed up by Axolotl, let itself be led around like marionettes from the first note to the last of Animal Collective’s set. It got more and more into it from track to track and hit its peak somewhere in the middle. Five hundred buzzed and boozed heads swayed in harmony. And when Avey Tare, Panda Bear and Geologist wrapped up their set without a word, those five hundred heads agreed: they wanted more. Sadly, “we want more” bore no fruit, and on an unusually warm October day everyone then went their own way…
Words by: Lea Lesar
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