Foals Level Up: Wembley
Published
“Are you ready? Wembley on a Tuesday night, are you fucking ready?”
We’re not - how could we be? First on stage is Foals drummer Jack Bevan, who kicks off the first song as the intro music fades into the beginnings of "Snake Oil" from his raised platform in the middle of the stage - no hiding in the shadows at the back, not for this show. Before the rest of the band are on, the noise is already almost unbearable, the strobe lights flashing furiously - it is clear that this is it, they are here. This is arena-level Foals.
"Snake Oil" isn’t an obvious opener, not on paper, given there are 4 other singles from their most recent album 'What Went Down', and many others before. Any doubt as to the band’s choice in set list is, however, quickly forgotten as the crowd begin their movement from the outset, building to a wall-of-noise chorus.
The crowd control (if it can be called that) is phenomenal - almost 12,500 people hanging on to Yannis’s every word -which, outside of his singing, are few and far between. The only ego stroking comes from the reaction to the songs themselves, and there is no need for gimmicks or chants to capture the enthusiasm of the audience.
It’s entrancing, watching their movement, sometimes eerily resembling blood vessels leading away from the band as the heart, pulsating at times slowly, at others frantic. This isn’t just the result of some drunk teens pushing in the crowd, this is the reaction of thousands of fans to the energy, the work, the sheer power of the band as they rip through songs - "Olympic Airways" moves seamlessly into "My Number", "Mountain At My Gates" sounds like it was written for this venue.
It’s not just ‘big’ songs that make up this evening though. "Give It All", "Birch Tree" give everyone time to take a breath and sing, and "Spanish Sahara" (the only track from second album 'Total Life Forever') is simply magic - the anticipation, the bathing in blue lights, the unexpected breakdown, the stunning guitar solo.
While 'Total Life Forever' is somewhat forgotten in this set list, Foals have not ignored their past. 'Antidotes' features as much as 2013’s 'Holy Fire', and "Balloons" is introduced as "a song we wrote in 2007… we never thought we’d be introducing it at Wembley." That this song (and others from 'Antidotes') fit as well in this show as more recent singles is a showcase in how far they’ve come, but also how tight they are as a performing band.
"Red Socks Pugie" - a song Yannis dedicates "to Everything Everything and Peace, and Tobacco by Tom Ford" - sounds simply enormous, so much more than you could have expected from listening to the track from 2008.
“This song is dedicated to this city, the best city in the world” is how the underwhelming "London Thunder" is introduced as the band return for the encore. If you didn’t agree with Yannis before, at this show, watching this band, in this arena, you have no choice. The encore cements the show as one that won’t soon be forgotten by anyone - "Inhaler" is a song in both structure and sound that begs for an audience of thousands, and eternal closer "Two Steps, Twice" jerky, infectious rhythms brings the night to a trance-like, stunning close.
There’s no question Foals conquered Wembley tonight, virtually no question that they deserved to be there. The question is why won’t festival bookers take the risk of giving them an outright headline spot, instead of the co-headline they’re taking up at Reading and Leeds? Now they’ve conquered Wembley so emphatically, there seems no reason to doubt they will do the same to the festival arenas - and those who do doubt it are doomed to suffer the endless rotation of 8 worn out headliners forever (or at least another year).
COMMENTS
-
Also, Everything Everything supported and were phenomenal
