Concert Review: Fleet Foxes @ The Grand Ballroom, Manhattan (10/4/08)

At 9:20pm, Fleet Foxes arrived on the Grand Ballroom stage at the Manhattan Center with a slight look of apprehension in their eyes. As the lights rose on these five Seattlinians, it was immediately obvious they had been thrown into a venue larger than any they'd ever played before (which midway through the show lead singer/songwriter Robin Pecknold admitted to). However, this shouldn't be that big of a surprise for those who follow the band. Many of us knew that it would only be a matter of months before their incredible debut album caught the attention of thousands outside of Seattle and would garner a strong following that spanned across the country. And so the audience spent the next hour and 20 minutes witnessing the exhilarating process of a band adjusting to an immediate rise in stardom and getting into their element in the concert capital of the world.

Unfortunately, the first sense that I got of the band was through my sense of smell, catching a big whiff of Pecknold's B.O. as he came on early to make a few instrument adjustments. This is probably the one instance in my concert attendance history that I wouldn't have minded being about five feet further back in the crowd. However, when the glorious harmonies started echoing through every cubic inch of the ballroom's interior, I would rather have been nowhere else but right up front.

The band sounded fantastic, matching the billowing and reverb-entrenched sound of their debut album. They played through much of the album (which I know very well), as well as many tracks which I assume are off of their EP (which I don't know very well, but undoubtedly will very soon). They also played a new song that they have been working on titled "Silver City", which they admitted still needed some fine tuning. While the entire band sounded great, the moments when Pecknold took the stage alone were even more impressive. By temporarily stripping off the often overwhelming harmonies and mighty backing instrumentation, it created a very intimate and engrossing performance situation that the audience became completely enveloped in (I smell solo career, and it smells like B.O.).

Going along with the whole idea of the band adjusting to a new, big setting, Pecknold frequently tried new performance variables, primarily concerned about how the audience liked them. For example, at one point he simply asked the audience if they would like it if he moved up to the front of the stage with both mic and guitar unplugged to play some songs ("Katie Cruel", "Tiger Mountain Peasant Song"). After roars of audience praise, I think he got the idea that they liked it.

One of the best parts about seeing the Fleet Foxes live was seeing their personalities come out. Listening to the album, I've always had this image in my mind of the band being similar to a mysterious bunch of traveling Appalachian wanderers, descending from the mountain to play some beautiful, earthly songs, only to cryptically return to where they came from. However, with consistently hilarious banter going on between band members and innocent interaction with the audience, I got the sense that this is just a group of five genuinely good-hearted people with a shared passion for creating innovative and often spiritual music.

While this setting may at first have seemed a bit overwhelming for the band, they surely settled in very quickly, giving a terrific (though far too short) performance from beginning to end. In response to Pecknold's claim of this being the biggest venue they'd ever played, one audience member accurately shouted out "well you're gonna have to get used to it!" Pecknold and the rest of the band laughed and shrugged it off, though surely in the back of their minds knowing that the audience member was probably right.


Fleet Foxes - Sun It Rises