Avey Tare played Brighton Music Hall – 4/1

Animal Collective’s Avey Tare brought his latest solo tour to Allston on Saturday night with support from Anastasia Coope.

I was sad to miss out on last Spring’s Animal Collective tour – their first major jaunt as a full band in a number of years – when it stopped at the Paradise the same night as Roadrunner’s grand opening across town. Luckily though, it’s never too long before some member of the crew swings through town again. Core members Dave Portner (Avey Tare) and Noah Lennox (Panda Bear) are often cooking up solo work between album cycles; Lennox and Spacemen 3’s Pete Kember (aka Sonic Boom) are hitting the road this summer behind their 2022 collaboration Reset, and Portner brought his tour in support of February’s 7s to Brighton Music Hall over the weekend.

The extended Animal Collective universe may no longer quite be cruising at its post-Merriweather peak of indie stardom, but the members have undoubtedly cultivated a following of diehards. That’s precisely who showed out for Saturday’s gig, ready to follow Portner down the rabbit hole of a dense and immersive 90-minute set. He conducted the whole affair alone on stage – save for some guitars, gadgets and a pair of synthetic alligators – creating a sea of swirling textures from which spritely psych-pop songs and head-bobbing grooves would emerge and recede.

The set explored much of 7s and various other corners of Portner’s solo catalog, minus 2014’s full-band Slasher Flicks project (to the disappointment of at least a few fans). An acoustic interlude offered a moment to poke one’s head above water, but then it was straight back to the depths for a finale that included the lone Animal Collectivism of the night, reaching back two-plus decades to Spirit They’ve Gone‘s “Chocolate Girl.”

The set was lit exclusively by a kaleidoscope of psychedelic projections, naturally, and you can get some trippy impressions – plus shots of singer/songwriter Anastasia Coope opening the night – below.