This was my third time seeing Animal Collective and my first time at the Malkin Bowl. Animal Collective were great as expected, maybe even better then great. The last time I saw them was in support of Merriweather at Sasquatch in 2009, prior to that I saw them at the Commodore in 2007. I highly recommend their live act. Some of the album recordings while still good or even great really come to life in stage. The Malkin bowl is a great venue, outdoors, shrouded by trees, and small. Nice and cozy. The crowd was good, the weather was good. I appreciated the stage setup and lighting with that psychedelic grin staring at me as I slowly (or quickly depending on the song) gyrated in concert with those occasionally unusual timing signatures.
The opening act Micachu & The Shapes was a unique experience. They started off sounding awful. I guess they forgot to sound check? Microphones off, sound out of sync and wall of fuzz. (Most of it intentional). It was awkward to watch but once they got over their equipment problems they sunk into an interesting rhythm. Some of it musical, some of it noise. Their "banter" with the crowd was a highlight. Despite there being no more than 100 people in support it seemed as if they'd never seen that many people before. Cute, quirky, but they had something. Once I figured out whether or not the singer was male or female I started to enjoy it. Apparently they do a lot of studio work so their 3 piece on stage presence was a bit underwhelming. Overall I thought they were a good choice to support AC.
I thought it was a good contradiction. An up and coming young band from the UK still figuring out their live show and AC and very well-rehearsed and polished (while still noisy and chaotic) band. It was fun to watch them open and it really showed the professional level and experience of their older seasoned counterparts.
Overall a solid experience.
Oh ya they also had food and beer, but that was secondary and I'm sure while it was good. It was not why I was there.