Foals – Commodore Ballroom – May 30, 2013
Having seen Foals numerous times over the years, it’s been enlightening to watch them grow and mature as performers. From their first small show at Richards on Richards, where frontman Yannis Philippakis tentatively performed standing sideways to the audience to edgier shows lacking in audience connection to their current full-on rock assault on an audience, the band has gained immense confidence and experience.
Promoting their Fall 2012 release, Holy Fire, Foals arrive onstage with a blast of sound and blowing the audience away with their unique collage of at times heavy but always upbeat rock-pop. Still looking like a bunch of young college grads the quintet burst with energy and music experience beyond their years. As they have gained experience the Foals seem to connect better with the crowd, the energy from the audience engulfs the room and appears to feed the band who in turn keep the energizing the crowd. Yannis ventured out into the room or more appropriately, onto, as he continued to play his guitar while he ‘surfed’ across the heads of the fans making them feel an even bigger part of the show. While a couple of audio issues with his ear monitors seemed to throw Yannis off his game in the beginning of their 90minute set, he quickly overcame it and continued his boundless energetic performance. The audience certainly were undaunted by this as the large number of excited British expats in the room couldn’t get enough of seeing this band in a small venue again. Before the encore, the room felt like a soccer stadium as the Brits lead the audience on a chant of “Ole Ole Ole” to bring the band back on stage.
Find Foals online, like on Facebook, follow on Instagram & Twitter @FoalsFoalsFoals
Or find the band on the road in the following dates.
Mon 06/03/13 Salt Lake City, UT The Depot
Tue 06/04/13 Denver, CO Ogden Theatre
Wed 06/05/13 Lawrence, KS Granada Theatre
Fri 06/07/13 St. Louis, MO The Pageant
Sun 06/09/13 Detroit, MI Belle Isle Park
Sun 06/09/13 Millvale, PA Mr. Small’s Theatre
Mon 06/10/13 Baltimore, MD Rams Head Live!
Wed 06/12/13 Asheville, NC The Orange Peel
Fri 06/14/13 Manchester, TN Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival