Fleet Foxes

On Friday night I met Nicole out the front of Luna Park, for dinner, and then a gig that is easily going to feature in my gigs of the year (6 days into 2012!!), and would rival any Top gig lists. That's how good it was!

We wandered onto Acland Street for dinner, and grabbed a table at Amigos, who promised to have us fed in time for the opening act. The sangria was good, and the Mexican fare was fine for a quick bite.

Nicole and I took our stall seats at the Palais Theatre, and took in Grand Salvo. The theater slowly filled up as Paddy Mann played his folk tunes.

As the room filled, and then went dark, the six band members of Fleet Foxes arrived on stage to rapturous applause and electric crowd anticipation.

Opening, and then slotting Mykonos in as the second track of the night, the sound was epic. It filled the room, and seemed to engulf us completely. The crowd was silent, taking it all in. The soaring harmonies, the instrumental detail, to the point of band members changing instruments mid-song for the desired effect.

The band was chatty in sections, joking about the venue not being the Opera House where they had played the previous shows of this tour. With Your Protector, White Winter Hymnal, English House and The Shrine/An Argument, the set spanned the EP, self titled album, plus last year's release, with many songs being played in back to back pairs without a break.

Back-lit for much of the set, with the graphics behind them the main visual feature, the band were in shadow for most of the almost 2 hour set. This effect allowed the music to be the primary focus. And totally blew everyone in the venue away. The end of the main set elicited a standing ovation.

The encore return gave us another four songs for the night, ending with Blue Ridge Mountains and the amazing, questioning Helplessness Blues.