Foals: A Night of Anthems

No words can describe Foal’s epic fan-base with their music crossing from Oxford to the airwaves of Malaysia on a colossal scale. Word of the gig passed on from mouth to mouth for weeks before, some even saying that it’s going to be “The gig of the year” and that night in KL Live, as the opener to Upfront Arena’s first show – it seemed as though it was.

Singapore’s Monster Cat had a great five-song show to season the crowd but despite their efforts, as early as the third song attendees get restless yelling out “We want Foals!” repeatedly throughout the rest of their set. It was clear as day that everybody wanted bigger things – everybody wanted Foals.

Roaring chants flood the floor the second lasers touched the stage introducing the quintet one by one as ‘Prelude’ played. The chants didn’t stop there. From ‘Total Life Forever’ to ‘My Number’, the venue felt as though it was going to collapse right down (with it being on the first floor). The crowd ran amok, unhesitatingly making room for moshing well throughout, on top of the crowd surfing. Heads were kicked and shoelaces remained untied but that casino online didn’t stop anyone from blowing their minds to what Foals had to offer.

‘Milk & Black Spiders’ took the set to a new height – accompanied by psychedelic epilepsy worthy lasers with an effervescent backdrop of a seven head snake and a Buddha figure. Philippakis exclaimed “You guys are fuc*** awesome!” beforehand  – amplifying emotions to make it all the more euphoric. Stringing with ‘Providence’ this back-to-back banger transcended everybody to different dimensions bellowing along to lyrics that hit like an avalanche. Climbing speakers and surfing the crowd amidst the song, the once self-conscious Philippakis didn’t hold back. He wanted to get feral with the crowd. Every song was sung like a national anthem, most evident during ‘Inhaler’ when everybody just lost control flailing everywhere screaming out lyrics and giving high fives to others who sang along – upholding Philippakis’s words when he said “Lets Fu** this place up” preceding the song.

Foals really evolved with their sound, transitioning from their regular pop-rock aesthetics to a darker, more wild and intense characteristic, performing with immeasurable ferocity. They didn’t play much of their old songs in the set, but after coming out from their short intermission, ‘Hummer’ and ‘Balloons’ came on as a desert to the set.  A little treat after the crowd belted for more – garnishing the night with the ever so favorable ‘Two Steps Twice’ sounding as good as it ever did.

It’s pretty clear that Foals is one of the rare gems of the decade, making their way to the big leagues. Ending the night with exhilarating and breathtaking moments that littered throughout the entire show, marking ‘Holy Fire’ as a true masterpiece.