There certainly seems to be this pattern of current indie flavours-of-the-month-type bands touring the country, leaving, and then... coming back in a relatively short space of time, doesn't there? Last in the country around July last year for the massive Splendour in the Grass festival, English math-y dance-punk quintet Foals made an appearance on this year's Laneway Festival bill, and naturally were given the opportunity to play sideshows, given the very quick sell-out of their last tour. I'd missed those particular shows due to how quick they sold out - well, I didn't miss them entirely, thanks to a certain social networking site's "Secret Show" series, I got along to Carlton's Trades Hall early one evening to catch a short, but FREE show from the band. However, that venue had quite a low stage, resulting in terrible visibility of the band, and the sound was also pretty average to say the least. I had expectations that I would enjoy this show a lot more, and I had those expectations met!
Brisvegas four-piece Last Dinosaurs had the honours of warming the stage in front of a rapidly-filling Palace Theatre crowd (although as far as I'm aware, the show failed to reach "sold out" status). Frontman Sean Caskey noted on a few separate occasions how genuinely excited his band were to be playing such a huge gig, opening for such an established act as Foals, unfortunately, they didn't quite make much of an impact on the crowd, save for when he announced the song Saturn, which is apparently one of their more well-known tunes. It wasn't as if they didn't have a sound suited to the gig; their bouncy uptempo indie numbers were definitely a close match for the headliners. And it wasn't as if the songs themselves didn't have their merits. It was just that they didn't really seem to have enough variety to set them apart from this current indie sound, and the songs just didn't have that extra energy needed to sway the largely indifferent crowd. The band themselves didn't help matters either, pretty much standing still at their respective positions on the stage, occasionally nodding their heads but seeminly not getting "into it" very much at all. In fact, oddly enough Caskey was the one doing most of the moment, strutting around the stage at every opportunity he had when he wasn't required to be in front of his microphone. I'd like to give these guys another chance, as they certainly weren't the worst opening act I've seen, but they just seemed to be a little too "samey" and one-dimensional to be playing at this particular event. A commendable effort nonetheless.
Note to whoever was responsible for running times for this particular event: it is NOT good practice to keep a crowd waiting FORTY-FIVE minutes between bands for the headlining act to take to the stage. Nevertheless, when Foals finally did appear, a little earlier than they were supposed, the crowd was suitably revved up and as Blue Blood predictably got the set going, everyone came alive. Even with just a 75 minute set, the Oxford group packed plenty of songs from their two albums into the set, with last year's Total Life Forever getting the most airings, but complemented nicely by a selection of Antidotes favourites. I've said to a lot of people that I still think Antidotes is a much better album; it just has a much more energetic and "fun" vibe to it. In comparison, a lot of the slower and more reflective pieces on TLF sound almost "serious" in comparison. The response in the crowd tonight reflected this - one only needed to compare the relentless dancing and singing during an early rendition of Cassius, to the quiet reverential appreciation of newer material such as What Remains. The band themselves looked to be having a great time, bouncing around onstage enthusiastically; singer Yannis Philippakis was also genuinely thankful of the crowd on numerous occasions. As the set progressed, Philippakis gradually got more enthusiastic, especially during main set closer Electric Bloom, which saw him belting a floor tom relentlessly, before finally launching himself off the stage and into the adoring crowd! The band returned for the obligatory encore, which kicked off in great style with The French Open, the crowd energy reaching fever pitch as they pogoed and even crowd-surfed to one of the more high-energy numbers in Foals' discography. There was a brief pause after the song, where the band had a quick conversation, before Philippakis announced they were going to play something they hadn't played in a while due to them being so satisfied with the crowd response, and so it was that we got pre-Antidotes rarity Hummer, which apparently wasn't on the planned setlist! Two Steps, Twice was a fitting end to the night, with the band extending the pre-chorus section to allow Philippakis to sprint up to the second floor balcony, before climbing down near the left PA speaker and dropping to the stage! The band looked exhausted at the end of it, but seemed quite happy with the response they got, and the crowd agreed! A great set from a very talented band.
SETLIST:
Blue Blood
Olympic Airways
Total Life Forever
Cassius
Balloons
Miami
What Remains
After Glow
2 Trees
Spanish Sahara
Red Socks Pugie
Electric Bloom
----Encore----
The French Open
Hummer
Two Steps, Twice
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