Animal Collective @ The Ritz, Manchester, 13 Apr

Coming away from an Animal Collective show and complaining about their self-indulgence probably places you among the ranks of comedy fans who go to see a notably offensive stand-up and walk out because they didn’t like something they heard.

This is a band that has never paid much heed to the opinions of anybody outside their own little bubble, instead spending the best part of the past couple of decades very much ploughing their own furrow. They seemed charmingly bemused by the critical acclaim (for the likes of Strawberry Jam and Merriweather Post Pavilion); if the setlist tonight is anything to go by, they appear similarly unmoved by the marmite response to February’s Painting With. 

Upgraded to the 1500-capacity Ritz, their return to Manchester is a sell out, suggesting they’ve sustained the crossover appeal that Merriweather lent them back in 2009, and the pre-show atmosphere is palpably playful – this is a crowd that’s there for the taking.

The opportunity goes begging, though. The set is based heavily around Painting With, and with the odd exception – the gleefully daft FloriDada goes down a storm – the reception is lukewarm, suggesting either apathy or unfamiliarity with the new material from the audience. The psychedelic backdrop and visuals seem by-the-numbers, interaction beyond performance is non-existent, and the smattering of older cuts – Daily Routine, Loch Raven, Bees – feel as if they’ve been homogenised to fit Painting With’s mould.

As a result, the only painting Animal Collective have done tonight is to themselves, into a corner; the set is so carefully constructed around their latest work, with measured segues from song to song, that flexibility and spontaneity are shown the door – surely anathema for a group that has presented itself as experimental standard-bearers for so long.