I went to the Animal Collective show last thursday at Webster Hall. I really didn't know what to expect, but by the end I had goosebumps. My friend, who introduced me to the band, said it best when he said, "I feel like this band is going to be very important." Anybody manage to catch the show? Seen them before?

Can somebody explain what that guy with the headlamp does? How do they control delays? I have many more questions for any self-proclaime Animal Collective "experts."

I think Id prefer seeing them live 100 times more than I enjoy listening to their music on CD, which I can at least stand.

As far as I can tell, the guy with the headlamp (Geologist) plays various electronic loops and samples.

I have no idea how they keep all of their delay effects timed together. Maybe that's controlled by all the shit Geologist uses.

I'm no expert on the band, and your guess is as good as mind as far as how they acheive their sound. I know nothing about gear and gadgets.

All that said, I've had mixed feelings about their live show both times I've seen them. On the one hand it's totally unique and fascinating, and on the other it can seem overly homogenous and tedious during the slower parts. When it's on, though, it's amazing.

This band is very important.

The composition, freedom, and fluidity of their most recent show in Montreal was perfect.

bluemilk and i were going to go to see them in DC last week but we didn't. oh well.

there will hopefully be a next time.

You've got the bulk of your lives ahead of you.

Hopefully they don't break up or go on hiatus before you get the chance.

I hate when that shit happens.

Hopefully, they record the new material they're debuting live before going on hiatus. That shit was awesome.

What direction are they going in? Spirit They're Gone, or Feels pt. 2?

Feels on further blast.

Just got to see them about a week ago here in Tucson (welcome back to the mainland for me!). This was my third time and by far the best I've seen them. They have finally figured out how to incorporate the slower moments in with the absolute freakouts. All four have such a great stage presence that it was hard to focus on any one member. They have indeed become a collective rather than four dudes just fuckin around lookin spacey. Great show, and I will second the notion that the new stuff sounded brilliant.

That's true. Come to think of it, they seemed much more connected this time than the last time I saw them.

Although I enjoy Feels a great deal (one of my favorite albums of last year), I wish they'd go back to the noisier material instead of veering towards tribal indie rock. Spirit They're Gone, Spirit They've Vanished is by far my favorite album they've released. I'd like to see more experiments with strange frequencies (like on the actual song "Spirit They've Vanished") and static noises again. They're definitely great songwriters, but if they keep getting more and more traditional with each release they're going to end up sounding like some kind of jangly jam band after one or two more albums.

They actually incorporate a lot of stuff like that into their live show. It's not as evident on their more recent stuff because it's more smoothly integrated and subdued, but live they definitely bring the noise.

I see what you're saying though about the danger of them becoming a sort of weird, spacey jam band. Not sure how bad that would be, though.

I saw them here in Asheville and some of the new songs have a little bit of the Here Comes the Indian vibe going - at least right now in the live show.

A lot of the new songs have a little bit of the Spirit They've... vibe to em, but it's still more or less 'songs' as opposed to hooks here and there embedded in a freakout.

I've had the problem of the chorus of Reverend Green just staying in my head for days on end. It started with the Seattle recording and then seeing it in Asheville made it stick - real bad. That song has definite potential for recording. Also, Peace Bone would probably be a good single once it gets recorded. It's fun, bouncy and short.

I still don't understand why Grass wasn't a more marketed single. I know AC have 'blown up' in the indie scene and all that, but Grass isn't that wierd of a song. They could've gotten some airplay, if not on radio, at least on MTV2 and shit like that. Then again, I don't know how much they want to jump through hoops to get any more exposure.

why didn't i go to this? why?