Animal Collective @ South Street Seaport: Ambitious Outsiders

Describing an Animal Collective gig to a novice is equally as challenging as attempting to relive the experience with a devotee of the New York (via Baltimore) experimentalists. The band's distinctive amalgamation of freak-folk, screamo, twisted & surreal pop, wizard-like electronic, post-rock and a slew of other genres makes for a one-of-a-kind aural journey. Last night's show was of particular importance, as it served as the introductory concert of this year's River To River festival.

The band's 85-minute set was a non-stop tour de force. Highlighting a bulk of tunes to be featured on their upcoming release, Strawberry Jam (more info on that LP here), Animal Collective reinforced their title of New York's most lovably bizarre musical troop. For good measure, the group also threw in a few old favorites towards the end of the show to a raucous reception. An undeniably fabulous way to start the summer concert season in NYC. See below for an MP3 of 'Leaf House', the opening track to their 2004 release, Sung Tongs.

MP3: Animal Collective - Leaf House