For reasons I can't fathom, I'd kind of missed the whole Grizzly Bear phenomenon -picking up 2006's Yellow House just at the point people were raving over Veckatimest after seeing it for a nice price and loving a Plan B review of it. I've since picked up their latest, as well as the Friend e.p., their debut Horn of Plenty, the mass of free downloads, and the related Department of Eagles.
As the live material captured on a four-track e.p. I located in the Rough Trade Shop or their Daytrotter session demonstrated, they can take the studio originals other places, and it was really through the live representation that I went back to the albums. Following a meticulous soundcheck and brief blasts of high-pitched vocals and vast instrumentation, Grizzly Bear took to the stage and delivered on both the expectations I had and the hype that some have planted on them.

'Southern Point' was a fantastic opener that felt slightly reworked, with a more psychedelic angle than the studio original, with Daniel Rossen (the one who looks like a young Paul Simon) leading this wild song - it was amazing how the four members interacted with each other. A slightly slower 'Cheerleader' was next and showcased Ed Droste's heavenly vocals, pitched somewhere between Jeff Buckley and Billy Mackenzie.

The set was not much longer than their victorious Green Man set in August - the emphasis on Veckatimest made the odd highlight from Yellow House even more enjoyable. 'Lullabye' and 'Knife' were suitably beguiling, but it was an epic 'Colorado' that stood out, sounding like Robert Wyatt fronting The Feelies.

The more recent material was similarly sonically pleasing, from a robust 'Ready Able' to a version of 'Fine for Now' that recalled early Ride. Sadly single 'Two Weeks' sounded bit flat and was missing the vocals of Beach House's Victoria Legrand. This was quickly atoned for by a double whammy of 'While You Wait for the Others' (Arthur Lee's lost Glam rock song?) and 'On a Neck. On a Spit' shorn of the Fleet Foxes-style intro of the original and with an intense blend of psyched-out keyboards and a mass of harmonies.

An encore of Spector's timeless 'He Hit Me (and It Felt Like a Kiss)' was a perfect adieu, though it is worrying that they appear not to play songs as great as 'Central and Remote', 'Dory', 'Little Brother', and 'Shift.' There was the sense they needed to cease touring and get to work on that follow-up - though with Veckatimest likely to be near the top of the end of year polls and a deluxe version already, will they be able to?