For committed fans of indie music, this pairing should be buy-on-sight. Woods is, of course, a long-running pastoral-psych institution. They’re a group who have built a cottage industry around their Woodsist label and festival, whose ranks once included Kevin Morby, and whose music has never strayed from the balmy, wistful and rootsy sound that, for a decade and change, was considered quintessentially “Brooklyn” (this is not a diss). Avey Tare, on the other hand, is a founding member and one of two frontmen for Animal Collective, arguably the most innovative and influential indie group of the last quarter century. Together, they present a yin-yang, dualistic vision of truly alternative rock music that sidesteps lamestream dilution for the long game of integrity, community and rigor.

So that’s that, right? Two standout artists tour together, everyone loves it, buy your ticket, see you there. What else is there to say? Well, for one, both have new music out, and it’s all quite good. Woods’ Five More Flowers was released just this week, and the wobbly synths, gentle percussion and cooing vocals sound like when the gummy hits just right. Once this rain stops and the temperature goes up another fifteen degrees, this will be the perfect soundtrack to a windows-down car ride to Jersey for a day of thrifting and baked ziti. Trust us.

Avey Tare’s 7s, meanwhile, works as a perfect entry point to his sprawling career. Avey Tare’s songs draw heavily on late ‘60s psychedelia, refracting the headiness of that canonical era through a modern, art school home-studio lens. 7s keeps up the proud Animal Collective tradition of fusing sugary impressions of The Beach Boys’ “Sloop John B” with the gleeful mania of Saturday morning cartoons, and of course, heroic doses of LSD. Avey Tare’s singular voice twists into strange and jarring shapes, but he retains the core tunefulness and coherent structures that have earned him a global audience. These are pop songs that speak to genuine wonderment, which use simple structures to explore complex themes and intricate, fascinating sonic interweavings.

If that wasn’t enough, the rest of the lineup gives the headliners a run for their money. Woods and Avey Tare have done the lord’s work by inviting artists who deserve a handful of lifetime achievement awards.

Natural Information Society is the “ecstatic minimalist” ensemble led by bass virtuoso Joshua Abrahms. What do they sound like? Honestly, everything. But particular touchstones include Don Cherry’s post-jazz, avant-world music and the chilled out fusion of Tortoise (two distinct iterations of an exploratory pan-genre axiom linked across generations) as well as early Steve Reich and North African Gnawa music. Based in Chicago, their ranks feature a who’s-who of experimental players with insane credentials. Abrahams alone got his start in the ‘80s with the Square Roots, the street musician crew that would later evolve into The Roots. His own collaborations include work with Godspeed You! Black Emperor (who just blew us away at Outline), Bonnie “Prince” Billy, Joan of Arc, Jandek and many, many more.

A full peeling back of the NIS onion could fill a book, but for a quick taste of what’s coming, check out these Bandcamp comments on some of their most recent records:

“Hypnotic trance music...Chicago by way of Bamako via Philip Glass' downtown loft...essential listening.” (for Simultonality, 2020)

“This music sounds like a stately party barge floating down the Nile, in either the distant past or the distant future. Or both.” (for Since Time is Gravity, 2023)

“Some 13 minutes into Descension you start getting what makes this collaboration unique - Evan Parker’s circular technique married to the droning sound of the Natural Information Society make for a kaleidoscopic, expansive rollercoaster of sounds that is deeply rewarding - the crowd seemed to acknowledge.” (for descension (Out of Our Constrictions), 2021)

Laraaji opens up the night. Perhaps the most senior performer on the lineup, he’s spent over 50 years dedicating himself to healing, transcendental music, typically played on a modified autoharp that he hammers like a zither. His most famous release is Ambient 3: Day of Radiance, recorded by Brian Eno and released as a part of Eno’s seminal Ambient series (which also includes Music for Airports, the Harold Budd collaboration The Plateaux of the Mirror and the haunting On Land, masterpieces all). But Laraaji’s legacy is hardly relegated to a single celebrity co-sign. A cursory glance at his decades of output shows an artist of remarkable vision and unwavering commitment to music’s core spiritual power.

Interviews with Laraaji comfortably drift into new age territory (“I received a telepathic communion in 1974 to start working with the electric zither,” he told BOMB Magazine), there’s footage of him performing on TV in the mid ‘80s with a frog hand puppet, and he leads laughter workshops that fuse communal guided meditation with his history as a standup comic. These unfettered expressions of joy give cynics an easy out, but it’s their loss. His freewheeling and playful spirit is the counterpoint to the profound depths of his original compositions. A recent box set from Numero Group - Segue to Infinity - contains some of the most shattering and transfixing recordings of meditative music to ever emerge from the West. Seriously, it’s that good.

Finally, the Macrodose Lightshow has been brought on to illuminate the evening. Mixing kaleidoscopic, spiraling patterns with old school, ‘60s happening-era analog touches, they walk the line between mesmerizing, unnerving and fun. It’s a perfect counterpoint to the music (especially Avey Tare’s), which both invites you to chill and challenges you to stretch out and explore.