Foals, Last Dinosaurs @ ThePalace, Melbourne (10/02/2011)

Tue 15th Feb, 2011 in Gig Reviews

Spirits were high for Foals’ only Melbourne Laneway sideshow. “I hope they play Alabaster!” I hear a girl say to her partner behind me as doors open. Despite upgrading in venue size, a sell out crowd was not to be for tonight’s show, but Brisbane four-piece Last Dinosaurs certainly deserved to warm the crowd up. Their polite indie rock has been making the rounds on Triple J, garnering a lot of positive attention throughout the country. On stage, the band themselves are clearly having a blast, smiles all around as they play to a packed theatre of early punters, but with a forty-five minute slot, and EP material to work from, it looks like the set time could be a struggle of something old, nothing new.

Positive energy abounds throughout, but it’s in between songs about Grant Morrison and firing a rifle in an open field that Last Dinosaurs begin to truly impress as a band. The rough and raw guitar riffs and edgy bass lines of a forthcoming untitled song provide hope that Last Dinosaurs are not your average garage indie rock band. The potential is there, and if Last Dinosaurs make all the right moves, a chance at greatness could be within reach.

One thing I like about Foals is their will to make each show a different experience. Allow me to elaborate. This was my third outing seeing the Oxford group. A Splendour sideshow at the Hi Fi Bar in 2010 showed a group of young, relatively unknown musicians proving they have the attitude, sheer skill and class to be the next big thing. A recent Laneway show proved Foals have a relaxed, ambient side as well; performing a twilight set that ticked all the right boxes. However, this particular Palace Theatre sideshow all but ensures that Foals will never be invited to play the venue again.

Fittingly, blue lights grace the stage, as Foals join us, and Blue Blood begins a we’re unlikely to forget. Along with Olympic Airways, title track Total Life Forever are performed early in the set, but it is Cassius that is well and truly the early pick of the night. Foals have the Palace crowd in the palms of their hands, hanging off of every word from frontman Yannis Philippakis, who despite being a rather timid looking guy, packs an almighty musical punch.

On the subject of Philippakis, one must make note that despite being dosed up on prescription medication, and most likely, something far less approved, the front man knows how to make his presence known. With a somewhat schizophrenic stage presence featuring a moonwalk strut and the climbing skills to allow further surveying the crowd atop of the speaker system, Yannis is something of an unexpected Jim Morrison wannabe. He may be no lizard king, but for what it’s worth, he’s just as daring.

A predominantly Total Life Forever based set dominates, with Afterglow and What Remains. Miami is something of an overall set highlight, but with Foals, the unexpected is to always be expected. Guitar solos in the photo pit, stage diving much to the dismay of security and Spanish Sahara tie up a very strong set, with Electric Bloom being the official finale. A note on Spanish Sahara, believe the hype, it only gets more beautiful with every live performance.

The French Open finally makes it’s appearance within the encore, and you half expect, and half wish Cassius to be played once again when it concludes. But Yannis makes the rounds to the other Foals, and declares they’re to perform a spontaneous, unscheduled addition of Hummer.

While Foals may be the centre of attention, the real party was before them. Wanting to get into the thick of it, Yannis observes the structure of the stage, chooses his path, and begins a Spider-Man like climb up the Palace walls, along brickwork and narrow paths, and over the 2nd balcony rails. Either this wasn’t enough, or Yannis just wanted to get high, because he moves up again, and literally overhangs the scaffolding above the stage. With security fearing a possible accidental death, one helpless man pulls at Yannis, but with the aid of fans he ensures that everything’s okay, before he drops down on stage to conclude the night with Two Step, Twice; a fitting finale.

Note this gig as one you wish you had gone to at the end of the year round up. Word of mouth has Foals touted as the next band ‘you knew about before Nova played them on the radio first.’ After giving a flawless performance tonight, it might not be long until this is phrase becomes associated with Foals.

Setlist
Blue Blood
Olympic Airways
Total Life Forever
Cassius
Balloons
Miami
What Remains
Afterglow
2 Trees
Spanish Sahara
Red Rocks Pugie
Electric Bloom

Encore
The French Open
Hummer (Last minute addition)
Two Steps, Twice