Foals
O2 Academy, Glasgow
02/11/2010

Opening with ‘Blue Blood’, the creators of The Fly’s Album Of The Year are greeted by a smallish but enthusiastic crowd tonight. Frontman Yannis Philippakis - his guitar slung high in his trademark pose - delivers ‘Total Life Forever’ with staccato seriousness, while ‘Cassius’ and ‘Miami’ offer an upping of tempo. However, it’s not until Foals broaden broaden their horizons on ‘After Glow’ that things start to get more interesting.

‘Spanish Sahara’ – arguably ‘Total Life Forever’‘s finest hour - is devastating tonight. From its sparse opening it builds slowly and finally snaps into life with Yannis burring “I’m the fury in your head” like it’s the first time he’s ever sung it – making for the best three minutes of the night and leaving us hungry for more similarly spine-tingling moments.

Things hit a peak again though when Philippakis, by now in a bicep flaunting vest, fetches himself a stand alone drum and suddenly springs into life; the band maintaining their precision and momentum even when he clambers atop the stacks and down into the pit. Foals then keep us waiting for an encore, and when they finally return with a cacophonous intro using a trumpet player to herald classic stormer ‘The French Open’, it prompts the biggest cheer of the night. It’s at times like this, when they throw their personality into it and take a few risks, that Foals well and truly soar.

Lucy Brouwer