Fleet Foxes @ Bowery Ballroom, NYC 3/30/08
By Amrit Singh
This show was a whole four days ago(!) you guys, so I realize we're testing the limits of blogger timeliness in posting now. But I was way too taken by Fleet Foxes' Bowery set to let this photo set slide by. It's been a long while since I'd walked into a show indifferent about a band, only to walk out an obsessive. Indifferent because I had heard a little of FF's Sun Giant EP awhile back and rushed to write it off as Jim James redux (which I fully and publicly admit was a hasty assessment; true, there is an undeniable and enduring vocal resemblance, but the rest is pulling from deeper and further away places). Maybe I also went to call bullshit on the post-SXSW hype and yeah, that didn't happen.
The quickchange came with "Sun Rises," the song's pastoral and banjo-flecked slow strum opening up into psych-colored and sunbursting harmonies, a Grizzly vocal splay that changed the Ballroom's hue (see also: "English House"). If you're into Droste, Rossen, and the rest of the Bear then start there, but know that the rest of Fleet Foxes' forthcoming full-length Fleet Foxes -- which I've literally had on repeat since that night -- slides into dustier spaces. They can do Lindsey, Stevie, and Mick proud, as on "Drops In The River" and its violin bowed guitars, or "Myknos." If you're a religious person, take "Sun Giant" as gospel. High brow folks should have at the classical piece "Tiger Mountain Peasant Song." There's lots of the Band in the spirit and earthen rock of songs like "White Winter Hymnal" or "He Doesn't Know Why." When their harmonies don't psych you out, they'll caress you Crosby Stills & Nash style (something tells me "Heard Them Stirring" sounds amazing on vinyl). Can you believe some morons write this off as Jim James redux?
Singer Robin Pecknold confessed early in the night he had been battling the flu for five days, and OK so the rasps rattling off the tail end of his tenor sorta maybe suggested that. But as he took a last pass through the verse/chorus of "Oliver James" -- a cappella, as on record -- it was the pindrop, goosebump, group hug moment the night had been steaming up to. Later someone handed him a packet of Emergen-C. Robin, that wasn't a hint. That was just people being protective of your pipes after what you did to us.
Gush much? Right. Whatever. Go see them. Repeatedly. They've got that magic thing. Get familiar at MySpace, check the tour dates and pics, below.
04-01 Montreal, Quebec - La Sala Rossa
04-02 Toronto, Ontario - El Mocambo
04-03 Buffalo, NY - Mohawk Place
04-04 Cleveland Heights, OH - Grog Shop
04-05 Detroit, MI - The Magic Stick
04-06 Chicago, IL - Schubas
04-07 Rock Island, IL - Huckleberry's Pizza Parlor
04-08 Madison, WI - High Noon Saloon
04-09 Minneapolis, MN - 7th St Entry
04-10 Grinnell, IA - Grinnell College
04-11 Omaha, NE - Slowdown
04-12 Lawrence, KS - Jackpot
04-14 Denver, CO - Hi-Dive
04-15 Salt Lake City, UT - Urban Lounge
04-17 Vancouver, British Columbia - Media Club
04-18 Seattle, WA - Neumos
04-19 Portland, OR - Holocene
04-25 Bellingham, WA - WWU Underground
05-24 George, WA - The Gorge (Sasquatch!)
07-19 Chicago, IL - Union Park (Pitchfork Music Festival)
Apologies to Ola Podrida and Blitzen Trapper. Ola, I just got there late. Blitzen: We'll always have Austin.
Posted at 4:49 PM in Concert, Tour Dates
Tags: Fleet Foxes
it's true. i saw them in philly last week. the crowd was SILENT the entire set. even the bartenders were mesmerized/enraptured. the band is an absolute must-see if you like music.
why 5 pictures of the lead singer and none of the lead guitarist nor drummer?
Posted by: broonumScore = 2
definitely one of the best shows ive seen in a while. Although your wrong about Oliver James, which is not a capella. There is indeed a fair deal of guitar in the song, as well as some slight percussion (Robin taps his acoustic to keep time and it's definitely high enough in the mix, both of record and live, that it should count as percussion)
Posted by: McGScore = 0
It's such a bummer that these guys finished up the California leg of their tour just as their EP came to my attention. Unless they decide to come back at the tail end, it'll probably be a good while before I can see them live. Balls.
Nice review, at any rate!
Posted by: peopleareshapesScore = 0
@broonum
sorry about that, the room was packed and i got there late and refuse to be one of those pushing-up-to-the-front photogs. i was way side stage, this was all i could get, unfortunately.
@McG
i never said "oliver james" was a cappella, just the last time through the verse/chorus. i listened to it too many times this past few days not to hear the, oh, three minutes of guitars leading up to the last pass ;)
@peopleareshapes
thanks! i hope you get to see them.
i love fleet foxes. just wanted to get that in there one more time. that's all.
Posted by: amritScore = 0
Why don't you MARRY THEM?
Posted by: ScottScore = 0
they'd never have me.
Posted by: amritScore = 0
Maybe if you wore your No Age t-shirt.
Posted by: ScottScore = 2
My bad, it just looked weird the way you wrote. I resend my argument.
hell of a week of shows, eh? first the port o'brien/delta spirit ramble and then fleet foxes. NY almost feels like the country. At least for a few hours thursday and saturday night.
Posted by: McGScore = 0
I agree that this show was pure delight. I tend to go to a different kind of show, ones with more fury and fanfare, like Boredoms on Sunday, but I've been so taken with what I've heard from these guys that I made sure to see them live. They did not disappoint. Their songs are truly lovely, and Ragged Wood cannot seem to dislodge itself from my stereo. It's laced with the best kinds of earworms.
Posted by: trainsmoke at April 2, 2008 6:32 PM | ReplyScore = 0
damn, looks like seattle's little secret is finally out. very exciting. my guess for the next seattle band to break out is Siberian or The Kindness Kind.
Posted by: christian at April 2, 2008 7:27 PM | ReplyScore = 0
I saw them tonight in Toronto with Blitzen Trapper, and it was one of the best pairings I have seen in a long long time - two great sets, each one as powerful as the other but for completely different reasons. Both bands teamed up to play an encore of Tom Paxton's "The Last Thing On My Mind" (with Fleet Foxes on harmonies, bunched up on one mic with BT's guitarist) that sent chills down my spine.
Posted by: Thierry at April 3, 2008 2:29 AM | ReplyScore = 0
Glad to see these guys are living up to their well-deserved SXSW hype. Aside from Sun Giant and Ragged Wood (or is that album gonna be self titled?), they evidently put out an EP back in 2006. Does anybody know where the hell to find/download it?
Posted by: JRHeat at April 3, 2008 11:32 AM | ReplyScore = 0
JRHeat, I was able to find the EP on Soulseek.
Posted by: Luis in reply to JRHeat's comment at April 3, 2008 3:44 PM | ReplyScore = 0
Saw them last month and they were wonderful. Afterward I felt really privileged to have seen them in such a small venue. That's a show that will stay with me for a long time.
Posted by: BBB at April 3, 2008 12:09 PM | ReplyScore = 0
Looks like the rest of the US is finding out what Seattle has known for a few years now. Nothing can touch the Northwest
JRHeat.......the ep from 2006 was there four song demo that made its rounds in Seattle when they were a newish band, doesn't really convey the sound they represent now.......the harmonies are pretty much absent. Still stellar though.......
with a tracklist of
1.In The Hot Hot Rays - which can be found on an old KEXP blog post
Posted by: Ty at April 3, 2008 3:43 PM | Reply2.Icicle Tusk
3.Anyone Who's Anyone
4.She Got Dressed
Score = 0
Oh and there new record is self titled.......ragged wood was shelved.......F'ing east coasters
Posted by: Ty at April 3, 2008 3:48 PM | ReplyScore = 0
i found a version of the first ep that also has the songs "Textbook Love" and "So Long to the Headstrong"
Posted by: broonumScore = 0
Posted by: lisa at April 10, 2008 2:15 PM | ReplyWin a $150,000 recording contract at woozyfly.com/contests!!
Score = -1
i'm with christian, i'm amazed siberian aren't exploding right now!
Posted by: chna at May 1, 2008 12:25 AM | Replythe fleet foxes are wonderful too, to this day ai've seen them four times and they get better everytime!
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