Who knew that a song about a troubled youth with homicidal thoughts could be so much fucking fun live! Contrary to many of my previous break-ups with girlfriends, hearing the pretty girl next to me sing, “You better run faster than my bullet,” was actually arousing. Such was the case during Foster The People’s most famous track, Pumped Up Kicks, at their entertaining gig at The Hi-Fi Bar.
Foster The People walked out in front of a wild and titillated crowd, opening with the dance-inciting Warrant. Thus, right from the very beginning, I couldn’t resist performing my infamously terrible white-boy jiggle. A few songs later, they blasted into Call It What You Want, and if you didn’t dance during that, you were either a douchebag, deaf or disabled. The highlight of the night came during that track when Mark Foster grabbed a drumstick and threw himself towards the drumkit so he could smash the crash cymbal to finish up the last minute of the song. It was brilliant to watch.
Foster The People employ two musicians purely for their live show. One man in particular was highly energetic and finished the night sweatier than Rosie O’Donnell wrestling a bull in a sauna for a sandwich. Hearing and seeing this guy add thickness to the sound by playing abstract instruments at specifically-timed moments showed that the band actually gave a fuck and weren’t just collecting cheques.
Perhaps the only flaw of the entire concert was the ill-suited choice of cover song during the encore. Foster, citing a yearning for California, ripped into Neil Young’s Heart Of Gold which wasn’t horrible but also didn’t match the intrigue or the energy of the rest of their set. Sometimes a change in pace can build dynamic; it didn’t work on this occasion. However, this is only a minor blemish, and I feel like a dick criticising what goes on during an encore. At that point, after seeing the enthralling light show and the thundering use of the extra drum during tracks like Houdini, I realised that if FTP ever visited my city and I couldn’t get tickets, then some kids better run, better run, outrun my gun.
LOVED: The strobing lightshow
HATED: The beer burps emanating from the motherfucker next to me
DRANK: Jäger on the rocks
