Foals @ Metro City
w/ Tired Lion
Sunday, July 21, 2019
Sunday felt like a Friday when Foals took over Metro City. They had it all from the big hits, old tracks that no one was expecting, a trip to the bar for a mid-guitar solo drink, and a jump from the balcony. Here’s what went down.
It had been a while between gigs for Perth locals Tired Lion, who took over the support slot on this show, opening with Japan which took the mood straight up to eleven. Despite having some guitar troubles after the first song, and some awkward stalling banter, the show soon got back on track, and the locals continued on to play hits Dumb Days and Fresh before heading into some album deep cuts and playing us a new song, Lie To Me. Closing with Cinderella Dracula got a few crowd members singing along, and was a great hype up for what was to come.
You could feel the excitement in the air as the house lights went down, and red lights and smoke filled the stage before the robotic “everything not saved will be lost” echoed out into the venue. Foals arrived onstage, singer Yannis Philippakis entered last to the loudest cheer, and launched straight into On the Luna. Keeping the crowd happy they continued with Mountain at My Gates before Yannis welcomed everyone with that beautiful Oxford accent, noting the South West bushfires and cancelled Southbound festival that had led to their last show here being cancelled.
Snake Oil and Olympic Airways were great fun before My Number got the crowd jumping and singing along. To make up for lost time, Yannis and co played Birch Tree for the first time on this tour, a track he claimed they don’t normally play, but it was just as sharp as the rest, and the crowd lapped it up.
Spanish Sahara followed the dynamic and unexpected highlight Providence, and brought a nice moment of quiet and synchronised swaying over the crowd before old fave Red Sox Pugie and a hit from Foals’ latest LP Everything Not Saved Will Be Lost (Part 1) in Exits. Another unexpected but much appreciated addition to the setlist was the epic A Knife In The Ocean, which came just before main set closer, Inhaler.
The main set was wild and full of crazy mood changes, jumping, swaying, and Yannis giving the crowd a piece of him. At one point, he even got carried by the crowd over to the bar, which he stood on, still playing his guitar, before a kind bartender poured a drink right into his mouth and he went on his way back towards the stage. The crowd absolutely drank it up, just as he did. And that was just the main set, I don’t think anyone was quite prepared for the craziness that was to come in the encore.
The shouts and applause from the crowd begging the band to come back out was thunderous, all the stamping almost felt like an earthquake! And sure enough, the band re-appeared. What Went Down was the highlight of the encore, Yannis right in the crowd shouting “When I see a man, I see a lion!” along with every single person in the venue. A mosh formed. There was jumping. There was shouting. There were guitars. And there was a frontman who commanded so much attention it was impossible to look away.
Two Steps Twice was on another level again, literally. During the song Yannis decided to go pay the audience members up on the VIP balcony a visit. For a while he disappeared, but when he re-appeared it was at the front of the balcony, surrounded by fans and looking down at those below. For some reason, he decided to jump, and of course, the adoring audience caught him down below. It’s perhaps the loudest a crowd has ever cheered for a man to jump from a balcony.
Foals put on a show that was unforgettable. Every part of the sound was perfect, letting those beautiful guitar riffs ring through nice and clear. You could not find a more commanding front man than Yannis Philippakis, his performance was one of the best in recent times. If you ever get the chance to see Foals, do it.
KIERRA POLLOCK
Photos by Alfred Gorman
