Foals, Gypsy & The Cat @ TheGovernor Hindmarsh, Adelaide(24/07/10)

Sun 25th Jul, 2010 in Gig Reviews

CHECK OUT ALL THE PHOTOS HERE.

Adelaide has been enjoying all the Splendour sideshow glory with the likes of Mumford & Sons, Alberta Cross, Band Of Horses, The Temper Trap and The Joy Formidable already passing through town playing some awesome shows. Tonight it was Foals playing to a full house at The Gov and punters will be not be forgetting this one in a hell of a hurry. It was great seeing Adelaide getting right behind this one guaranteeing a sell out with limited publicity.

For The Foals Adelaide was the first stop on the tour and after waiting three years for them to play in our town that moment was finally here. Opening tonight were up and comers Gypsy & The Cat who are building a solid reputation for themselves playing their brand of soft pop with acoustic guitars and smooth blasts of synth. Set highlights included Jona Vark and Time To Wander and I’m sure they’ll break overseas before they do at home in Australia.

The natives were getting restless as the break between bands seemed like an eternity but shortly after ten Foals hit the stage with the first word from front man Yannis Philippakis was “finally”. Opening with Total Life Forever set the floor ablaze with all the indie kids shaking and really get right in to it. Some bands you have to see live to fully appreciate their albums and the same can be said for Foals who impressed me no end.

The next number Cassius sent punters in to hyper drive and how could you not succumb to the hypnotic rhythm of this one. Yannis again echoed the sentiment that they were pleased to finally get to Australia and thanked the punters for being here and added a further comment that they were feeling pretty fucked up after a forty hour plane flight. Nevertheless, there were no signs of weariness and if they hadn’t mentioned that fact no one would have known. The next song Olympic Airways is kind of ironic in a roundabout way.

Their new single Miami was well received and shows a band with plenty of tricks left up their sleeve. A fiery clap-a-long provided the kicker for Balloons raising the intensity amongst the die hards down the front. Yannis was having a little whinge about ‘sonic issues’ but that hardly seemed noticeable as they powered on. Blue Blood and After Glow followed with Yannis again thanking the crowd for their patience. I was surprised to see how nuts the kids out there were for The Foals with plenty of crowd surfing, yes crowd surfing!

It was great to hear Red Socks Pugie before they wrapped out their set with the length Electric Bloom. It was a highlight of the night to see Yannis go a little crazy and climb the speaker stack, the swing like a monkey on the lighting rig before flinging himself in to the crowd to eventually surf his way back to the stage – awesome, a total fucking awesome sight!

When the band retreated backstage the chants started with crowd in unison yelling ‘one step, two’. It had the desired effect with the band returning to play The French Open. This tune is a beauty complete with French lyrics and how can you beat the groove behind ‘Un peu d’air sur la terre, D’air sur la terre’. The crowd got what they wanted with their festival closer Two Steps, Twice. As Yannis said ‘one more for the road’ he was full of appreciation to those fans coming out and supporting the band as the wondered what the reception would be like in Australia. As the crowd went crazy for one last time the night sadly came to end but no doubt leaving punters more than satisfied.

Set List
Total Life Forever
Cassius
Olympic Airways
Miami
Balloons
Blue Blood
After Glow
Alabaster
Spanish Sahara
Red Socks Pugie
Electric Bloom

Encore
The French Open
Two Steps, Twice

CHECK OUT ALL THE PHOTOS HERE.