Review : Diarmuid Sheehan
Photograph’s : Kieran Frost
An excited crowd enjoy the last remnants of evening light as I make my way up to Abbey Street’s Academy Theatre for math rock five piece Foals. Touring their new album Total Life Forever a follow up to their 2008 debut album Antidotes, Foals are one of the hottest bands on the circuit at the moment.
The Academy filled up quite steadily, most of the bohemian crowd were happy to stand and chat and enjoy a complimentary Heineken at the bar, until the first act La Faro took the stage. La Faro are a Belfast hard rock quartet who have just released their self titled debut album. La Faro burst straight into their set and it was immediately evident that their talent did not match their enthusiasm. A series of unfortunate events began to unfold to scupper their set. Lead guitarist Dave Magee had not been rigged up to his amp, bass player and Dave’s brother Herb managed to take a spill onto his monitor from a completely stationary position. By the time they had recovered the audience had lost interest, many nipping out to have a quick cigarette before the next act. Perhaps it was just the wrong audience for La Faro but their short set was nothing more than endured by a crowd whose musical ideology is polar opposite to that of La Faro’s.
Next on stage was London indie outfit Bombay Bicycle Club who I was particularly looking forward to seeing. Bombay Bicycle Clubs debut album I had the blues but shook them loose has been met with critical acclaim and in my own opinion their performance at the Academy last Friday night truly rubberstamped their status as a world class act. At a time when indie music is being churned out at an alarming rate by mediocre artists it’s refreshing to absorb such an excellent and innovative band live. The Academy crowd received the “support act” with raucous applause, and moved with equal zest to “Evening/Morning” and “Dust on the ground”. The vigour of front man Jack Steadman was matched every step of the way by the heaving Academy crowd. It’s a delight to see such a powerful performance in such an intimate venue. The almost tangible atmosphere could not be replicated in an outdoor or larger venue. It’s almost a pity that Bombay Bicycle club are set for bigger things.
The terrific performance of Bombay Bicycle club would have usurped lesser bands, but Foals are truly a class act. Opening with the title track of their new album Total Life Forever it was immediately clear that they were under no threat of being upstaged. This crowd after all had come to see them. With the electric and funky “Cassius” following “Total Life Forever” the crowd had become one swaying organism. Frontman Yannis Philippakis and lead guitarist Jimmy Smith instigated frenzy in the crowd jumping of the monitors and playing up to the crowd. There was a positive tension within the venue as Foals run through new tracks “Miami” and “This Orient”. This tension was released when they played their excellent new single “Spanish Sahara”. This is a haunting melody that for me really marks their evolution from their first album. Being a song that has had a lot of airtime on my iPod recently I was really hoping that they would play it live, and I wasn’t let down. The crowd enjoyed the change of pace and soaked up the slow melodies and subtle riffs of Spanish Sahara. And the fantastic crowd was more than happy to revert to bedlam as the song builds to its climax. For the culmination of Foals set a floor tom is brought out to Yannis and it becomes clear that Electric Bloom is to be the last song. Yannis and drummer Jack Bevan begin the song shattering the intro out on their respective drums. There was an almost aggressive quality in this final song, every member of the crowd moving to the marching of Yannis’ drum. As Electric Bloom swells to its pinnacle Yannis leaps off stage into the surging crowd. Yannis manages to get back to the stage in one piece (despite the best attempts of one young man who seemed intent on taking his trousers for a souvenir) to bring an excellent night to a close.
It’s clear that both Bombay Bicycle Club and Foals are set for bigger venues than the Academy in the future and I’m delighted I got to see them in a small venue. With Bombay about to begin work on a second album and Foals just releasing their second there is a bright future ahead for both of these excellent bands.
