Wednesday, January 17, 2018

Fleet Foxes in Singapore


Bought the tickets to Fleet Foxes six months ago, without thinking if I would be in town. Figured it would be easy to pass the tickets to friends or even sell them. Glad I made it to the show. I really wanted to see the band. I've never been able to catch Fleet Foxes in their hometown Seattle or in any other city. I was seriously put out last May when schedule didn't allow me to catch Fleet Foxes in Seattle at The Showbox, even though I was in WA. I wasn't staying in downtown Seattle on those dates right where the venue is, and I couldn't drive like two hours back to town. Thrilled that they came to Singapore.

The indie folk-rock band has been around since 2006, releasing their first eponymously titled album in 2008. There's a second 'Helplessness Blues' (2011), then the band went on a hiatus. To date, they're only at their third album- 'Crack-Up' (2017)Robin Pecknold's vocals are still velvety, and he hasn't lost that magic in his songwriting. The band made it such a beautiful night.

In 2012, Robin Pecknold took a bold decision to walk away from music for a while. He moved to New York and went to school at Columbia. Now, he's ready to get back to Fleet Foxes, albeit with some changes to the members. (Did you know Josh Tillman a.k.a Father John Misty was their drummer once upon a time?)

Happy to hear old songs. ‘White Winter Hymnal’ is still such a favorite, along with 'Mykonos' and 'Drops in the River'. The band sounded AWESOME. In their latest 'Crack-Up', their new sound seem to lean towards prog rock rather than folk rock. Their new songs are so complex to play live, but they nailed it. No better venue than the Esplanade Theatre to bring out those multi-layered sounds and not blow out my eardrums. That's another one off the music bucket list. What a wonderful show.

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