A wrap for Fleet Foxes at First Ave
Posted on August 10th, 2009 – 8:41 AMBy Chris Riemenschneider
It was the last show of their current tour, and their last U.S. date of the year, so Fleet Foxes were having fun last night. It was atypical for the Seattle quintet to be so chatty and cheeky, which was about the only thing that distinguished this show from their more-cohesive sets at the Cedar last fall. There were a few lulls amid the chatter but also quite a few laughs, like when drummer J. Tillman retold a comment some man on the street made after walking past Tillman, frontman Robin Pecknold and Pecknold’s brother (presumably all bearded and very musician-looking): “There goes the Jonas Brothers in 15 years.”
After a year and a half of steady touring, the guys clearly had their four-part harmonies and earthy hippie jam bits down pat. I thought the best parts of the set, though, were still when Pecknold played by himself (marked with the **asteriks below), even though he complained about only having “one functioning nostril.” I wouldn’t mind if the guy did a solo acoustic tour between now and the next album’s release, maybe to test some new songs (a couple of which they played last night; both were pretty terrific). Here’s the set list:
Sun Giant / Sun It Rises / Drops in the River / English House / Bedouin Dress (new song) / White Winter Hymnal / Ragged Wood / Your Protector / Tiger Peasant Song** / Blue Spotted Tail** (?, new song) / He Doesn’t Know Why / Mykonos
ENCORE: Oliver James** / Blue Ridge Mountains (played with the members of opening band Dungen)
7 Responses to "A wrap for Fleet Foxes at First Ave"
actually they chatted WAY WAY more at last years early Cedar show. i can’t speak for the late night one.
it was actually a bit too much chatting then, but last nights was fine.
I see a comment by reader ‘yokay’ correctng the reporter’s inaccurate reference to the Foxes frontman’s name was removed and the story changed. Be fair to your readers ST and leave reader’s corrections up.
(yokay says: August 10th, 2009 at 9:20 am
Frontman is Robin, not Ryan.)
Chris, the term is ‘asterisk’.
That, and the song title is ‘Tiger Mountain Peasant Song’.
More half-arsed supposed reporting and review on your end.
Keep up the remarkable work.
Come on, folks, I’m aspiring to be a blogger with my typos … stop treating me like a reporter!!
(Also, note the time of this post; I hadn’t any coffee in me!)
I wrote a full review off the Cedar shows (and yes, Jeff, I only took in the second of those sets), so that’s why there’s only a quickie blog post off last night. Now, does anyone actually have any comments about the show/band?
Blaming the hour is not justified, nor is a lack of caffeine. You ARE a reporter, and this piece simply wasn’t prepared to be submitted. This wasn’t meant to be taken in by the masses, and you had to have known (regardless of the hour) that you were bound to be checked on such errors (no less than four before any revisions). Please first take into account that you’re at least viewed as a professional and that, too, will come with the public’s critique.
Robin wasn’t at his best, and that was more evident when he was attempting to hit higher notes, performing alone.
Overall still a great show and very surprising to see it that packed, sold out or not.
Man, who knew Fleet Foxes fans were such uptight nerds?
You’re right, Chris, the solo parts with Robin were my favorite too, especially Oliver James, even if he wasn’t in top voice. The one thing I didn’t like was how uncomfortable the club was. First Ave when it’s sold out can really suck, they overpack it, I think.
I am not sure what concert I was at, but this concert was amazing. I have been looking forward to FF for the last six months, and am singing their songs since attending nearly non-stop. We are so musically perverse that we can’t even appreciate a band that simply played to our sense of harmony. In terms of the crowd, I thought it was appropriately reverent given the fact that Simon&Garfunkel type music was being played. Long live the fleet!
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