Foals Live :: Wessex Scene Online

Foals Live

Foals in the headlights. Err, spotlight.

12th November 2008
Michael Havis

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Nov 08 - Cyndi Lauper, Southampton Guildhall
Nov 08 - The Stranglers Live
Nov 08 - The Streets Live
Oct 08 - Subhumans Live
Jan 09 - New Found Glory, Southampton Guildhall

More by Michael Havis

The Foals Rocked Southampton Guildhall on the 12th October 2008.

Foals are a difficult band to categorise. Being influenced by music as far apart as Radiohead in some areas, and minimalist composers in others, not withstanding math-rock, dance and afro-beat; it seems strange that they should find their main fan base among the indie rockers. Nonetheless, it is those same people who have been pouring into the guildhall all night, eagerly waiting for them to take the stage. They have been assembled a long time, and the venue feels like a furnace.

Thankfully, a strange, guttural, echo filling the arena makes it clear that they won’t be waiting much longer and with a surreal feeling established, the set begins. Even from the very first notes, the crowd are in a solid mass; jumping together to the strange ambience sweeping the hall. Frontman, Yannis Philippakis and fellow guitarist Jimmy Smith seem to have forged a sound from exploring every possible combination of noises; making floating, strange harmonies in the air. The peculiar on-the-spot dancing of the eccentric singer all the while encourages the crowd further.

The set continues with their latest single ‘Olympic Airways’ although this leaves the crowd unmoved and unenthusiastic. Despite keeping the dream-like texture well established, the fans react less to the downbeat feeling of the song, only really waking at the end with a strong applause. This is of course no worry to the band, who follow up with two knock-out punches in the form of ‘Balloons’ and their biggest number ‘Cassius’. What in particular seems to make these tracks is the contrast between soft, chiming sounds one moment and a more forceful rhythm attack the next,courtesy of razor-sharp drummer, Jack Bevan. With the performers reinvigorated as much as the audience, the lost energy is quickly restored, albeit aided by a daring venture into the crowd by Philippakis.

The show continues on with further crowd-pleasers ‘Heavy Water’ and ‘Hummer’. Even though more settled than the last songs, there is still a fire about the performance that keeps the fans interested. This is especially true of the latter, which builds up to a crescendo of what can only be described as brilliantly controlled noise. This also throws into sharp realisation how much stronger the band are as a live act then their studio recordings are capable of communicating. The same moment replayed on the record is easily-missed.

Moving on through a spacey performance of ‘Tron’ the band then bring the crowd into a frenzy with the unusually named ‘Red Socks Pugie’. Although not necessarily the strongest song of the night, the audience here don’t appear to mind and show a steady reluctance to stay still throughout. This is most apparent in the pop hook-laden choruses which get a huge throng of people yelling along. However, the same could not be said for the melancholy ‘Electric Bloom’ which continued the show. Despite being an undoubtedly strong piece, a more downbeat nature was again to blame for a lack of interest from the crowd. Fortunately, as the song reached it’s peak, a rabid performance (in which Philippakis fell over twice!) brought everyone back to life.

Now, as the evening draws to a close, Foals retake the stage once again for a strongly demanded encore. As sad as it was for one small cluster of fans who leave thinking the show is over, the same enthralling vitality is carried on through ‘Mathletics’ and closing number ‘Two Steps, Twice’. In the course of which there is no shortage of instrument swapping and even extra drums are bought on to fill idle hands. This done and with the stage thoroughly trashed, the show was over and the fans walked satisfied into the night chanting the last song.