They say that pets look like their owners, and maybe fans look like their favorite bands. Based on the audience at Foal’s Lincoln Hall show, the average fan is an identikit of lead singer Yannis Philippakis ; often quite short, overwhelmingly male and wearing a checked shirt. That’s no complaint. I’m a big Lady Gaga fan, so this explains why I am wearing a baloney bra and hat shaped like a pterodactyl as I type this review.
Oxford University drop-outs Foals hadn’t visited Chicago for a while, and the crowd are beside themselves with excitement. From the first chord of opening song “Total Life Forever”, the fans are carried along by the sinuous guitars and tribal rhythms of Foals. Touring their well-received second album “Total Life Forever”, Foals played a mix of old and new, to a rapturous audience.
Foals are all business and after a quick “Hi Chicago, we’re happy to be here” it’s heads down, heads banging, fingers flying. Questions about whether or not they are actually a math rock band fly out of the window as they present their complex punk rock, trancy, tribal beats. This is music to dance to; juddering bass lines (reminiscent of The Cure), filled in with jagged guitars and intricate drumming. The crowd chants along, arms aloft. Yannis crowd surfs and climbs the speakers, like a cool Bono who has come to take your head off with songs like “Two Steps, Twice” and “Olympic Airways.” He once said he wanted “to fucking destroy the music industry from the inside out”. Based on tonight’s performance, I don’t doubt Foals could do it.
