When Animal Collective played in Austin last, it was at the start of our sticky, wet summer, and the band mesmerized their crowd at Antone’s with a remarkable set featuring quite a few tracks from the then-unreleased Strawberry Jam and even some post-Strawberry Jam jams as well. Now, at the advent of fall (or what we Texans call fall), the Collective returned to Emo’s, and fans of the New York-based group were more than ready for their return, having digested and loved Strawberry Jam, excited to hear how the band’s new tracks have developed live since their last visit.

Animal Collective are a group that strive to surprise, so it was probably a shock to few fans that the band’s opener that evening, Tickley Feather, were also unusual, a mysterious duo who made a beat-chocked racket that sounded like it was beamed from Neptune. While the big dance growls of their synthesizers were somewhat captivating, the group was visually underwhelming. The singer, who apparently just goes by Annie, at least swirled and bopped her pigtails to the beat, but her dour-faced companion looked about one beer away from a nap.

It’s a good thing Animal Collective fans are ready for weird, because in other circumstances Tickley Feather might have been ignored right off the stage. But soon enough, Panda Bear, Avey Tare, and Geologist (Deakin was MIA from this tour, as he was from the last one) began their pre-show sound check, the sight of which brought out warm applause from the audience in earnest. The set itself began with “#1” from “Strawberry Jam,” and the Collective kicked out other high points from that album, including a long re-working of “Firecrackers” featuring Avey Tare on guitar, and “Peacebone,” – all to the accompaniment of a nearly epileptic light show and framed by paper skeletons that adorned the stage.

The show was sold-out, so naturally those fans in the thick of things were exposed to wave after wave of body heat, though that didn’t keep enthusiastic/stoned participants from doing their own robot dances or hopping up and down, particularly to upbeat numbers like the new, tentatively titled “Walk Around With You.”

Speaking of upbeat, the Emo’s show was less free-form than the band’s Antone’s performance, the middle section of which was marked by swirling psychedelic numbers punctuated by the occasional Panda Bear “Aiiiieee”! Saturday’s show featured the stumbling time signatures and not-quite-dance dance numbers that Animal Collective listeners just love, and Geologist and Tare, in particular, were focused and very into their groove-making, but also gracious performers who seemed genuinely excited to be on stage. And even though the set leaned heavily on new material, one of the band’s three encore numbers was “We Tigers,” which took us back to 2004, when the band first gained serious notoriety and were a mere six(?!) albums into their discography. The juxtaposition with old and new just serves to underscore that while they’ve come so far already, Animal Collective have no limits on where they go next.

Photos by Zach Ground.