Flying Lotus / Animal Collective - Hollywood Bowl, Hollywood, CA, 9/23/12

8.7

8.9

Does the band influence the venue or vice versa? This question was at the forefront of my mind during the somberly conflicted Sunday night double-bill at the Hollywood Bowl. I had high hopes for my first experience at the legendary west coast venue which once housed The Beatles and was about to host my current favorite band, Animal Collective and their amorphous live show.

The result was by no means related to the band or their performance but rather to a venue which confirms everything that is wrong with the Los Angeles music scene. Sure the acoustics are second to none and nothing compares to live music played in the open night air under a bed of stars. But by playing a larger venue, the band invited in mostly casual fans, eager to talk over the majority of the set and whoop and holler when that one song they heard on college radio begins.

So were my dashed expectations due to my misunderstood notion that the Hollywood Bowl could actually rock or to being surrounded by an uninterested crowd made up of the worst hipster scum on the west coast? As Flying Lotus started the night off proper, I found my answer was a combination of both.

The electric wizard is at the top of his game and put on a fantastic show, seamlessly wiring his new album's spacey production with current hip hop hits like A$AP Rocky's Hands on the Wheel and electronic classics like Radiohead's Idioteque. Even after encouraging the audience to stand, FlyLo didn't get half as much energy back as he was dishing out behind a futuristic 3D projection wall. In the end, a forward-thinking monster of a set seemed to be the highlight of the night for most, but would still perform better in a small club.

As Animal Collective took the stage it was clear that this performance would be less about full-body immersion into their musical wonderland and focus more on presenting the one-of-a-kind sounds of the band in the best acoustic environment under the sun. If recorded correctly, this show has the potential to be one hell of a bootleg.

The current tour's set list represents the double edged sword of indie stardom. Now more than ever, the band seems to be responding to the success of Merriweather Post Pavilion and actually giving the fans what they think they want. I'm glad they continued their tradition of keeping the majority of the tunes current but besides the new album, none of the material predates 2007. This of course, kept the majority of casual fans packing the Bowl happy, conforming to the drunken pleas of My Girls.

Despite the shortened set, the Collective managed to massage some sneaky surprises into the jelly-like ether that fills the gaps between songs. The studio versions of every song seem like blueprints in comparison and even among other electronic performers, Animal Collective stands alone. I was sad to see Moonjock axed but the interlude concluding the album's lead-off track made a welcomed appearance. I am personally not a fan of Pulleys and think its the weakest track on the new album so the fact that the extended interlude woven into recent live versions was also nixed didn't faze me. Instead, we got an elongated Peacebone that is literally torn apart as it cascades to a mind-numbing finale that loomed above the hit-laden second half of their set.

The cartoon centipede mouth that dressed the stage accents the music, which brings out the loopiest side of the band. But it also encapsulates the exact reason why such immediate music needs to be experienced in the most intimate of settings. In a club, the illuminated teeth that lined the edges of the stage actually makes it look like a psychedelic centipede mouth. On such a big stage, the effects are still mesmerizing but the illusion is lost. The kinetic nature of new hits like Honeycomb and old faithfuls a la Brothersport create a ruthless set that never looses its punch and encourages participatory freak-outs. Unfortunately for both the band and audience, the venue kept the majority of onlookers glued to their seats, tapping their toes and smoking weed.

Still, the music hold up masterfully and the set is an hour and a half long banger designed to keep fans bouncing. Despite the fact that this may be their least experimental, most hit-driven tour, I'd mark the night a success, especially considering I was able to catch the band in their intimate element the night before. A worthy companion to a night of psychedelia under the night sky.