Animal Collective @ O2 ABC, 7 November

In the past we’ve witnessed Animal Collective wing it with a man down as well as push brand new material on the back of an already shrink-wrapped fresh album. Tonight, the Baltimore quartet play it relatively straight, with Centipede Hz dominating the setlist; a bold move for an album that’s hardly set their fanbase alight.

However, cuts like Wide Eyed and Moonjock possess a raw immediacy that, whilst bolstered by familiarity with the album itself, they perhaps lack in their recorded form. Eventually though, the heavy insistence on Hz material, along with a couple of noodling, spaced-out intermissions, becomes a mite testing. Thankfully the end triumvirate restores the cosmic balance.

Monkey Riches loosens up the sell-out crowd, letting way for a euphoric, elongated Brother Sport and a lazer-sharp Peacebone, Avey Tare emerging from his bunker of synths and pedals to cut a welcome centre-point on the latter. Kicking off the inevitable encore, a call for My Girls is dismissed by Tare as being 'a bit like meatloaf'; not something you want to indulge in every night. Yet, one song later, they serve up exactly what was ordered, the crowd eagerly eating up their signature tune. There may have been a few gristly mouthfuls, but we leave satiated nonetheless.