On Wednesday September 8th, Noah Lennox, better known in his solo incarnation as Panda Bear and in another incarnation as one quarter of the indie electro darlings, Animal Collective, rolled into Portland’s Crystal Ballroom to kick off MusicFest NW. Musicfest NW is a somewhat under the radar festival that was spawned 9 years ago from the vestiges of the North by Northwest music festival. Touting itself as the “third largest indoor music festival in the United States”, the festival has expanded its reach in recent years bringing in more artists and bigger headliners. Unfortunately, this has sapped some of the cozy vibe that once nourished the festival’s charm. This year, with an underwhelming lineup, at least for my tastes, I chose not to purchase a festival wristband for the first time in 9 years, instead focusing on a few shows that peaked my interest.
Panda Bear is embarking on a rare U.S. tour in anticipation of his fourth LP, Tomboy, to be released “in a month or two” according to Noah’s recent talks with indie tastemaking blog, Brooklyn Vegan. A one-man band whose popularity skyrocketed with the 2007 critically acclaimed, Person Pitch; one of the more innovative and unique albums to hit the streets in a long time. Taking the stage, armed with a Stratocaster, a bank of exposed wires, and his trusty Korg “white box”, Lennox thanked the crowd humbly before launching into a 10 minute ambient intro that blasted arpeggiated synth runs and rumblings sound effects with acid soaked imagery projected onto a large video screen behind him. Immediately, an overwhelmed young man staggered out from the middle of the crowd, his face seemingly melted very early on!
As opposed to the bouncy, playful melodies on Person Pitch, the new material carried a starker, bleaker feel on this night. Songs were not packed to the gills with interlocking samples as much as they were stripped to bear essentials of rhythm, ambient accompianment and Lennox’s signature, ethereal and impressionistically effected vocals. Lord knows what he may be singing about in these pieces but he can often be uncompromisingly gorgeous in creating an almost hymn-like choir with his effected voice. Songs bleed into one another with slow builds and occasional thick drops of gun shot snares and gut punching kick drums hits. The video backdrop pulsed with a spectrum of color and images creating multi sensory stimuli and leaving a few Portland hipsters with the LSD flutter in their eyes. Images ranging from grim reaper-esque hooded figures to shrieking Beatles fans and nostalgia soaked 1960s lovemaking lended a creatively burlesque vibe to the surroundings. Some fans slow danced, others bobbed their heads, still others waved their arms in the air. Many stood ramrod still, observing.
The music sustained an eerie warmth all night with crystal clear acoustics wrapping around the darker palette of sounds that roared from Lennox’s fingers. After a throbbing, industrial take on tweaked out techno, Panda Bear’s set ended at exactly an hour. Arriving back on stage for a weirdly slow burning and downright spooky encore, those reverb-drenched vocals again took center stage. Less danceable and more unique than I expected, Panda Bear left Portland’s legendary Crystal Ballroom by stamping his set with one foot in the bygone days of hippie carousel rides and another firmly planted in the loopy electronic frontier.
