Foals, Alpine @ The Palace Theatre, Melbourne (26/09/2013)
Following the release of their third studio album Holy Fire, Foals were back in Melbourne for a fourth time, and it was clear the indie rockers had been missed.
Selling out two shows at Melbourne's Palace Theatre was no surprise after Australia got a brief taste of them at Big Day Out this past January, now they were back for the real deal.
A horrendously windy day, naturally, in Melbourne did not stop patrons lining up early to get the best spot in the three-story theatre. Opening was Melbourne locals Alpine, an energetic six piece led by the delightful Phoebe Baker and Lou James, two twirling, shimmering ladies providing dual femme vocals unlike anything I'd heard before.
A stellar, tight opener, Alpine was perfect for the crowd to bop along as they played tracks from their debut album A is for Alpine, including latest single 'Gasoline'. We got a "It's good to be home!" from Lou as they closed their set and the audience began cramming in tightly for what was next.
Cruising on stage to kick off with 'Prelude', an instrumental intro and first track from their #1 ARIA chart album, guitarist Jimmy Smith casually entered the stage with grace, followed by Jack Bevan (drums), Walter Gervers (bass, vocals), Edwin Congreave (keys, vocals) and frontman Yannis Philippakis, the five-piece glowed with confidence. Foals were here to blow our mind particles.
It didn't matter if you were new to Foals, or had been listening since the early days of Antidotes (2008), the set jumped through their albums and heard old favourites like 'Olympic Airways' and 'Red Socks Pugie', and track of the same name from 2010's Total Life Forever as well as crowd favourite 'Spanish Sahara', which peaked at number one on the NME top 50 songs of 2010.
Frontman Yannis had total control of the audience during the entire set. If he clapped, they clapped, if he jumped, they jumped. Without much warning, Yannis was quick to stage dive into the sweaty crowd during 'My Number', followed later by jumping off the edge of the second story balcony straight into the mosh, who were all so hyped up even the smaller fellows could carry his weight.
In what was the most stunning light display from any band I've yet witnessed, Foals and their powerful vocals, ridiculously indie guitar riffs and evident brotherhood absolutely conquered Melbourne and went down as one of the best acts I've ever seen.
Maddie Stephenson
Selling out two shows at Melbourne's Palace Theatre was no surprise after Australia got a brief taste of them at Big Day Out this past January, now they were back for the real deal.
A horrendously windy day, naturally, in Melbourne did not stop patrons lining up early to get the best spot in the three-story theatre. Opening was Melbourne locals Alpine, an energetic six piece led by the delightful Phoebe Baker and Lou James, two twirling, shimmering ladies providing dual femme vocals unlike anything I'd heard before.
A stellar, tight opener, Alpine was perfect for the crowd to bop along as they played tracks from their debut album A is for Alpine, including latest single 'Gasoline'. We got a "It's good to be home!" from Lou as they closed their set and the audience began cramming in tightly for what was next.
Cruising on stage to kick off with 'Prelude', an instrumental intro and first track from their #1 ARIA chart album, guitarist Jimmy Smith casually entered the stage with grace, followed by Jack Bevan (drums), Walter Gervers (bass, vocals), Edwin Congreave (keys, vocals) and frontman Yannis Philippakis, the five-piece glowed with confidence. Foals were here to blow our mind particles.
It didn't matter if you were new to Foals, or had been listening since the early days of Antidotes (2008), the set jumped through their albums and heard old favourites like 'Olympic Airways' and 'Red Socks Pugie', and track of the same name from 2010's Total Life Forever as well as crowd favourite 'Spanish Sahara', which peaked at number one on the NME top 50 songs of 2010.
Frontman Yannis had total control of the audience during the entire set. If he clapped, they clapped, if he jumped, they jumped. Without much warning, Yannis was quick to stage dive into the sweaty crowd during 'My Number', followed later by jumping off the edge of the second story balcony straight into the mosh, who were all so hyped up even the smaller fellows could carry his weight.
In what was the most stunning light display from any band I've yet witnessed, Foals and their powerful vocals, ridiculously indie guitar riffs and evident brotherhood absolutely conquered Melbourne and went down as one of the best acts I've ever seen.
Maddie Stephenson