Pogonophilia was alive and well Sunday night! Fleet Foxes folked it up hardcore at their second NYC show, much to the delight of some pretty enthusiastic fans. This Seattle quintet makes music that is warm, cathartic, lush, hopeful and fairly epic, but seeing them live is a whole ‘nother level of musical genius. They describe their music as “baroque harmonic pop jams.” Yeah, I just call it “awesome.”
Playing tracks off the Sun Giant EP as well as their self-titled debut, lead singer Robin Pecknold and bandmates entertained with some incredibly gorgeous vocal harmony. Sharing similarities to acts like My Morning Jacket, Simon & Garfunkel, The Beach Boys and The Shins, Fleet Foxes makes frontier-friendly music that will make you wanna hop on your trusty horse (with no name) and gallop into the sunset to a more peaceful place… perhaps, Seattle.
With songs that are chock full of unique intros, gentle yet purposeful strumming, interesting breakdowns, lingering vocals and memorable codas, Fleet Foxes put on one of the best live shows I’ve seen in a while. The music was flawless as the vocals were impeccable. Even the stage lighting was elegant– they had a backdrop that resembled a starry night sky as they joked New Yorkers “deserve one night of actually being able to see them” (hey!). Pecknold ripped on The Big Apple a few times, but then made it up by telling us how much they love stopping here on tour.
Hilarity ensued when a loud fan inquired how he spent his day; he regaled us with stories about exploring Williamsburg, Brooklyn (everyone smiled/giggled, of course) and the fancy coffee he sipped there. He then rhetorically asked questions about the who’s/what’s that invented complicated coffee flavors and why it is so damn hard to find simple java. This is NYC, so of course rhetorical questions never go unanswered. A smartass fan in the audience shouted “Blame Seattle for that!” The audience busted out laughing, as Pecknold smiled and said “touché.”
The witty banter amongst the band and with the audience only enhanced their great live performance. They even showed off an awesome new track, “Silver City,” and Pecknold sweetly begged, “Don’t put it up on YouTube, it’s not finished yet.” They played for about an hour and a half (to make up for no encore…what?!) and informed the crowd they’re heading back to Seattle to record their new album. They won’t be touring again for some time, so I highly recommend catching them while you still can. Until then…
Set List:
Sun Giant/Sun It Rises
Drops in the River
English House
White Winter Hymnal
Ragged Wood
Your Protector
Crayon Angels (Judee Sill cover)
Oliver James
Quiet Houses
He Doesn’t Know Why
Mykonos
Katie Cruel (traditional American folk song) – unplugged!
Tiger Mountain Peasant Song
Silver City (new song)
Blue Ridge Mountains
Fleet Foxes: myspace | Fleet Foxes review
Filed under: concerts | Tagged: baroque pop, fleet foxes, indie rock, monasheikh, my morning jacket, Robin Pecknold, Simon & Garfunkel, the beach boys, the shins, webster hall | 4 Comments »
