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| Photo courtesy the Star Tribune |
Progressive folk giants Fleet Foxes played two sold out shows at The Palace Theater on September 30th and October 1st. The band was touring in support of their return album Crack Up which was released in June of this year.
Ear Coffee sent its two best (and only writers) to cover the second night because we are dedicated to bring you the news (also Robin Pecknold is also bae).
For a venue, the Palace Theater, was the perfect venue for Fleet Foxes. The building itself is super vibey and has a reclaimed look. The front of house engineer knew what he was doing. Both bands that night sounded, for the most part, crystal clear in the PA.
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| Pictures of the stage from the balcony |
The Nap Eyes frontman Nigel Chapman's voice stood out among the instrumentation. It was nasally and monotone. Chapman's voice was almost reminiscent of They Might Be Giants frontman John Flansburgh. Chapman did not take much time to banter with the audience during their half hour set. There were maybe three breaks in the set and the frontman spoke twice. He spoke with a heavy French Canadian accent and was probably high out of his mind (he stumbled over his words and phrases).
The mixing for Nap Eyes was a little off during their set. From time to time, the lead guitarist would dominate the mix at inopportune moments. Not during his fluid lead lines, but when he was playing along with the rhythm guitarist. Most issues were corrected right away but it was jarring when it would happen.
After a quick change over, Fleet Foxes took the stage to play their set. The band walked on stage to a brass choir piece. According to Setlist.FM, the bands walk on song was "A Nearer Sun" by The Westerlies.
Fleet Foxes had their stage show down to a science. A white backdrop with matching illuminated geometric shapes placed along the stage provided a place for projections. It created the perfect psychedelic mood for each song. The band was illuminated from the front so their shadows projected on the backdrop too.
The backdrop was not the only thing that was beautiful. The sonic landscape created by Fleet Foxes was nearly flawless. The first few songs had issues. Robin Pecknold's vocals were a little hard to hear and certain instruments had to fight to be heard; however, once those kinks were worked out, everything fit together perfectly. Their sound filled the theater and was dense without losing its clarity.
Much like Nap Eyes, Fleet Foxes did not banter with the audience a ton. Pecknold would speak to the audience from time to time but it was sparse. When he did speak, Pecknold's dry sense of humor was not lost on the crowd.
The quote of the evening from the Fleet Foxes frontman was "Drinking tea on stage isn't cool but it's where I'm at right now." Pecknold went to let the audience know that he tea of choice that evening was throat coat.
To follow up two hour set, Fleet Foxes played another five song encore before taking their final bow. Returning to thunderous applause, Pecknold told concert goers that the band had a day off the day after so they planned on playing even longer.
Fleet Foxes really pulled out all the stops for their second show in St. Paul. Ear Coffee would highly recommend seeing them whenever you get a chance.
Setlist:
- I Am All That I Need / Arroyo Seco / Thumbprint Scar
- Cassius
- Naiads, Cassadies
- Grown Ocean
- Ragged Wood
- Your Protector
- The Cascades
- Mearcstapa
- On Another Ocean
- Fool's Errand
- He Doesn't Know Why
- Battery Kinzie
- Tiger Mountain Peasant Song (Robin Solo)
- Mykonos
- White Winter Hymnal
- Third of May / Ōdaigahara
- The Shrine / An Argument
- Blue Ridge Mountains
- Blues Run the Game (Jackson C. Frank Cover)
- Helplessness Blues
Encore:
- If You Need To, Keep Time On Me (Robin Solo)
- Montezuma (Robin Solo)
- Oliver James (Robin Solo)
- Drops In The River
- Crack-Up
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