Author: Izzy Marshall

If Saturday night's Post Animal show at the High Noon Saloon could be boiled down to just five words, those five words would be “immediate and sustained mosh pit”.

Following a couple of dreamy, electrifying and, at times, pretty intense performances from Madison's own Tippy and Slow Pulp, Post Animal took the stage, sending everyone in the crowd into what I can only describe as gelatin mode, in that no one seemed to be fully in control of their limbs.

There was moshing, there was headbanging, and there was crowd surfing一one girl even did a backflip mid-air (which, for the record, did not look all that intentional). For a band that comes off as pretty mellow on record, Post Animal were anything but mellow live, and the crowd definitely responded to their energy.

Over the course of about an hour and half, the Chicago-based five-piece (who all have longer and prettier hair than I do) cranked out a steady stream of hits, from classics like “Alabaster” and “When I Come Home” to new favorites like “Tire Eyes” and “Ralphie”. After saying their thank yous and goodbyes and exiting the stage, the crowd predictably erupted into a desperate chant, begging for one! more! song!, prompting the band to return and proclaim that they, thankfully, had a couple more left in them.

Arguably the best moment of the night, however, came right before they played their final song, when keyboardist Jake Hirshland announced that, as a Madison native, he had always dreamed of playing the High Noon. It was a super genuine comment, and especially heartwarming coming from an otherwise objectively too-cool-for-school dude with a handlebar mustache. It was a sweet way to cap an already super sweet show, and I look forward to hopefully catching Post Animal the next time they're in town.