It was the worst of times, it was the best of times: Animal Collective, First Nation, Barr @ Opera House (23/02/06)

I wouldn't call it rapping. Standing around babbling into a mic, reaching reaching really really reaching for an "off-kilter" psycho-hipster persona over godawful canned beats and noise. That's not rapping. That's bullshit. Honestly, there are no words to describe Barr, who might have the honour of putting on the worst on-stage "performance" that I've ever seen. This covers a lot of ground, just so you know. What do you get when you take the Streets, remove all the lyrical wit, humour, phrasing, and poignancy; leaving just a load of meaningless ramblings, all delivered with the stage prescence of a stray fart? Nah, that's still sounding awesome compared to what I saw on Thursday night. There are no words.

At least First Nation are a good idea in theory. Space-y strumming with slacker harmonies reminiscent of former current Faith Healers singer Roxanne Stephen trying to self-harmonize over Stereolab tunes (and why not, they used to have the same drummer) (sorry). I can forgive the sloppy playing, but the end result is so boring that I keep forgetting there is a band on stage. I wish I was kidding, but music this aimless deserves my frequent attention lapses.

And after all that horror, Animal Collective appear and all that suffering is alleviated. Worthwhile, even! Although this is a "Feels"-obsessed crowd, the band keeps everyone mesmerized throughout this spectacular hour-and-a-half set of mostly new material. Dizzy, ambient swirls; hallucinatory shoegaze, blistering drones -- their kitchen sink approach turns everything they touch into gold. This is one of those rare shows where the worst criticism I can come up with is "they peaked too early", in reference to the "Banshee Beat"/"Purple Bottle" doubleheader that works the crowd (and the band) into a giddy furor only thirty minutes into the set. When it's all over, the excitement level doesn't subside even after the house lights and music come on, as 700 people hold themselves hostage in a downtown Toronto club until the band returns for an unplanned performance of "Kids On Holiday".

Transcendent, sensational. Defintely worth wading through all that shit.