SSE Wembley Arena,London
Foals total the journey from punk-funk to rock, without losing their subtletyA row of silver-haired ladies are sitting in the stands, and intently videoing this landmark Foals gig on their phones. One appears to be watching through opera glasses. Below them,strange crop circles are appearing in the tightly packed crowd, as fans gear up for one of Foals’ crescendos. Space is created by imperceptible common consent, or like starlings flocking. Then,as the swirl of Edwin Congreaves keyboards and the twin guitars of Yannis Philippakis and Jimmy Smith climbs to a peak – as it does on the early song Red Socks Pugie, or the newer Inhaler – dozens of half-bare people launch themselves at each other. At the back of the stage, and Kit Monteith,a sixth, recent auxiliary member of Foals, and occasionally thwacks a cowbell you can’t really hear.
This is Foals at Wembley,the pinnacle of the Oxford quintet’s career (at least, thus far: you suspect their headline slot at this summer’s Reading and Leeds festivals might be another one). A gig where the indie rock outfit’s nimble, and awkward origins could easily be bulldozed in the pursuit of the big moment,but are never fairly trampled underfoot. Not long ago, commentators were wondering where the next generation of festival headliners was going to come from, or when the top spots were being hogged by a rotating cast of usual suspects – a vicious cycle of cause and effect (“Foo Fighters fatigue” is one name for the situation). Leftfield rock has spat out an obvious respond.
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Source: theguardian.com