Animal Collective (almost) beat the rain with a psychedelic set in Central Park (review, setlist)

In Central Park last night, Animal Collective played a psychedelic, heavily jammy set at Summerstage, their first outdoor NYC show with all four members in over a decade. The quartet of Avey Tare, Panda Bear, Deakin, and Geologist were soaked in pink, yellow, and blue lights as paper collage-esque graphics danced behind them, in shapes of dragons, ballet slippers, spirals, and snakes. Prior to their set, tourmates Tomato Flower and LA jam band Taper’s Choice each played, slightly earlier than planned due to anticipated rain.

Following the one-two punch of “Car Keys” and “Dragon Slayer,” Avey Tare thanked the crowd, saying, “We always end up back here in New York.” The band vamped between tracks, mixing sounds from Time Skiffs seamlessly into other songs in their deep catalog. They dug into a couple songs each from Strawberry Jam, Centipede Hz, and Merriweather Post Pavilion over the course of the set. Even as Deakin, Panda Bear, and Avey Tare switched instruments, occasionally stepping offstage, Geologist made silence scarce with fuzzy, immersive noise. For “Soul Capturer,” one of a few unreleased tracks they played, everyone but Geologist broke out guitars (Panda Bear pedaled the bass drum while playing his).

Animal Collective made an impressive amount of noise in the park, with at least a dozen instruments on stage at any given time–even making use of the hurdy-gurdy and a gong under one of Geologist’s synths. They seemed keenly aware of how their voices meshed, with an increased vocal presence from Deakin compared to the early days, who joined in on several songs and took the lead at times too. When they left the stage after “Strung With Everything,” the crowd stood restless in the sticky air; there was more sound to unleash. As AnCo returned for their encore–“Prester John,” “Wide Eyed,” and “The Purple Bottle” (the only song they played off 2005’s Feels)–it began to rain. By the time the crowd finished their “woo”s on “The Purple Bottle,” it was pouring, but few seemed to mind. Before they left for the night, Avey Tare once again addressed the crowd: “We hope to see you very soon. Enjoy the rain.” Check out Taper’s Choice and Animal Collective’s full setlists and some more pics and social media posts about the show below, and pick up Animal Collective vinyl from our shop.

Panda Bear’s also been having a busy year. His collaboration with Sonic Boom, Reset, came out a few weeks ago, he’s featured on the recent Braxe + Falcon EP, and he’s also featured on the just-released George FitzGerald single, “Passed Tense,” which appears on George’s forthcoming album Stellar Drifting. Listen to that below too.

Animal Collective’s Time Skiffs tour continues tonight in New Haven, CT. In November they’ll head to the UK and Europe. All remaining dates below.

Taper’s Choice Setlist (via)
Running From the Rain
Darkness on the Edge of Midtown
Lilac Palace
Doner Wrap

Animal Collective Setlist (via)
Magicians From Baltimore
We Go Back
Chores
Car Keys
Dragon Slayer
Unsolved Mysteries (Proceeded by “The Darkness” jam)
Soul Capturer
Royal and Desire
Applesauce
Screens
In the Flowers
Gem and I
Bluish
Strung With Everything (Preceeded by “The Challenge” jam)

Encore:
Prester John
Wide Eyed
The Purple Bottle

Animal Collective — 2022 Tour Dates
08-31 New Haven, CT – College Street Music Hall *
09-02 Toronto, ON – Danforth Music Hall *
09-04 Montreal, QC – Corona Theatre *
09-07 Madrid, ES – Mad Cool Fest
11-02 Limerick, IE – Dolan’s
11-03 Dublin, IE – National Concert Hall
11-06 Bristol, UK – SWX
11-07 Manchester, UK – Albert Hall
11-09 Glasgow, UK – Saint Luke’s
11-12 Tourcoing, FR – Le Grand Mix
11-15 Hamburg, DE – Übel & Gefährlich
11-16 Berlin, DE – Kesselhaus
11-17 Prague, CZ – MeetFactory
11-19 Vienna, AT – Arena
11-20 Munich, DE – Freiheiz
11-21 Fribourg, CH – Fri-Son
11-23 Luxembourg, LU – Atelier
11-24 Paris, FR – Trabendo
11-27 Cologne, DE – Luxor

* – w/ Tomato Flower