Boasting an impressive supporting line up of That Fucking Tank and Cage The Elephant, Foals’s second night at London’s Alexandra Palace seems set to be a climatic affair to wrap up their UK tour. Having had a hugely successful year that has seen the Oxford five piece achieve commercial and critical success with their third album Holy Fire and take on their first major headline slot at Latitude last year it seems only appropriate to finish off with their biggest headline show to date.
However things got off to a shaky start with the venue’s PA system continue cutting out during TFT’s set that saw the two piece’s riff heavy instrumental jams butchered due to the unfortunate technical problems. Luckily by the time Kentucky hard rock act Cage The Elephant take the stage any faults have been sorted and the evening’s entertainment can properly get underway. As main support CTE offer a 30 minute blitz of their hits and some fresh cuts that get the crowd limbered up for the night’s main attraction.
When Foals finally take the stage it doesn’t take long to establish that their live reputation is well deserved, kicking things off with the standard tour opener Prelude, the band dish out a string of hits including Total Life Forever, Olympic Airways and My Number that ensure the crowd’s energy levels remain consistently high and eventually peak during a laser drenched rendition of Providence.
The set features several high points offering quite a immersive experience be it the frisson of a song like Spanish Sahara or noisy barrage of a track like Inhaler with frontman Yannis Philippakis rallying up the crowd with phrases like ‘are you fucking ready?!’ or ‘let’s fucking do this!’ sometimes you can’t help thinking that he should let the band’s signature experimental sound do the talking and stop pandering to the lads.
The encore is a bit of throwback to early days with debut single Hummer followed by show closer Two Steps, Twice that is really milked for all its worth to burn out the Alexandra Palace crowd. Overall it is a hugely satisfactory gig however with only thirteen songs on the setlist maybe one or two more tracks may have helped to give a greater sense of occasion. Either way Foals are hitting the stride and are become increasingly difficult to ignore and with a slot booked at Bestival, I give it one more album before they are topping the bill on the Pyramid Stage at the Worthy Farm.
JF
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Alexandra Palace has been the location for some mighty gigs in my lifetime, and this bitter night in February may have just topped the list. Despite not being hugely knowledgable of the older Foals albums, the gig delivered for me on all levels, as a band who clearly thrive on live performances delivered a cracking set which was enjoyed by a frenzied crowd. ‘Spanish Sahara’ and ‘My Number’ were highlights, aided by the pulsating atmosphere, by the show stealer for me was the understated ‘Avery’, a song I was not previously aware of that has been on rotation ever since.
The supporting acts were also fantastic. That Fucking Tank lived up to their incredible name with some feral riffs and beats, despite the PA troubles, and Cage The Elephant continue to dominate whenever they play. We already have our ear to the ground for the next time they visit our local venues.
LW
The Sound Locker 