...As I mentioned in the Wilco thread, I stayed until the very last note of the very last encore, so I completely expected to miss some of Panda Bear's set. I had hope that things would run long at the Ottobar, but even a call on my drive up to Merriweather still placed PB on stage at 11. Thankfully, traffic was non-existent coming out of Columbia, so I made great time to the club; it took me all of 20 minutes to make it from the Mall's parking lot to being in the door. And ib an amazing stroke of grace, Panda Bear started literally the second that I finished my bathroom trip and Natty Boh purchase.
It's a hard thing to write up this show after Wilco; they couldn't have been more different. While Wilco was quite clearly a rock show, Panda Bear was more of an artistic statement. I think, without having first seen the photos from Pitchfork, I wouldn't been beyond bummed. It was just him, standing almost perfectly still behind an array of buttons and knobs, while a video project showed a random collection of images as a backdrop. With the understanding of what I was getting, though, it really made for a fairly inspiring performance.
The set was essentially one long composition, as Panda floated in and out of sound collages and tracks from Person Pitch. It reminded me a bit of a live DJ remix at times; as the songs progressed, more and more elements from their recorded versions drifted in until the song was recognizable. And it was surprisingly danceable, although the packed house made anything more than bobbing in place impossible.
PB's voice was in great shape (I feel like I should give some credit to the only organic sounds I heard), and the videos worked well. Watching footage of people having sex on a roller coaster followed by a shark savagely attacking chum in the ocean during "Comfy in Nautica" was hilarious: "I'll try to remember always just to have a good time."
After about an hour with no stop, he politely thanked the crowd and left the stage. The performance definitely wasn't mind-blowing by any means. Like I said, it was more of an artistic performance than a rock show. And it certain was pretty good...definitely not great. But because of the rarity of seeing this live, it was definitely worth the $10 and headache of staying out that late.
Oh, and (I think) I noticed Deacon and Geologist in the crowd, which was nice to see them supporting one of their own.
