Fleet Foxes at Tower Theatre - Philadelphia

I apologize for this truly overdue review… Life moves fast these days.

On May 21, 2011 the world was supposed to end. According to Harold Camping, a multitude of natural disasters would start what was supposed to be part of a new era in human kind, an opportunity for redemption and salvation. In the end, of course, nothing happened.

The same night the Fleet Foxes performed live at the Tower Theatre in Upper Darby-Philadelphia. That night, my wife and I decided to go to the Fleet Foxes concert, daring Camping’s predictions, thinking that in the end this was a great way to finish it all.

Certainly, more than an end, what we found that night was a reassurance of the beauty and power of this band’s music. “Helplessness Blues”, the band’s new album, follows the same formula as their beautiful self-titled debut album, though it provides clear evidence of a dramatic growth of the band at a musical and personal level. Songs like “Montezuma”, “The Shrine/An argument”, “Lorelai” and “Helplessness Blues” display this clearly. This album will for sure remain high in my list for 2011.


In this and many other blogs, we tend to focus on the search for novel sounds, new faces, new ideas or rhythms that propose something different, something that catches our eyes through change. Sometimes though in this continuous quest for differences we tend to overlook the beauty of simple elements. The music from the Fleet Foxes is exactly that, it relies in powerful vocals, simple sounds, harmonies and choral arrangements. At the same time, their live show is flawless and front man Robin Pecknold’s voice is perfectly embellished with horns, guitars, saxophones, piano and violins that all together bring their performance to a different level. Certainly, a must-see show.



This was our third time, and without a doubt we look forward to hearing them again soon.

I leave you with the beautiful and well-served setlist plus a video of "The Shrine/An argument”, as they performed it that night.

Fleet Foxes Set-list-Tower Theatre - Philadelphia May 21, 2011

1. The Cascades
2. Grown Ocean
3. Drops In The River
4. Battery Kinzie
5. Bedouin Dress
6. Sim Sala Bim
7. Mykonos
8. Your Protector
9. Tiger Mountain Peasant Song
10. White Winter Hymnal
11. Ragged Wood
12. Lorelai
13. Montezuma
14. He Doesn't Know Why
15. The Shrine/An Argument
16. Blue Spotted Tail
17. Blue Ridge Mountains
Encore:
18. Oliver James
19. Helplessness Blues