A lower than average temperature Thursday night at Canalside didn’t stop a vast amount of people from attending and enjoying the entirety of the show. Canalside is a 21-acre park with a stage facing the water and docked ships at an angle lined with chairs, food vendors and various tents. The stage setup had lights shaped like mini icebergs that were lined across the center of the stage. Smoke machines drenched the stage matching the atmosphere. The drums were on stage left, which was different. Six musicians adorned the stage with keyboards, drums and drum machines, guitars, basses and synths. The crowd raucously chanted “Foster! Foster! Foster!” after their drawn out entrance. Fans were packed in the front, ranging from teenage girls to college age guys having a night out, to dads carrying their young daughters who were singing more words than I was. Mark Foster was in a dark leather jacket, dressed for the cold, as well as everybody on stage.
Foster The People sounded a lot, if not better than, their two recorded albums. I was impressed by Mark’s ability to sing his distinct heady-dissonant sounding chorus style vocals, especially given the low temperature. Despite the chilly night, Foster The People claimed that they would warm it up, which they did indeed do. Throughout the night, Mark alternated between taking the mic off the stand and walking around the stage, playing his red electric guitar and playing keyboards as well.
The entire sextet was very tight musically and played everything as much as they meant it, although they weren’t very interactive. Between clapping, dancing, singing and iPhones and Go Pro cameras waving around in the air, the fans were enjoying the concert and the weather didn’t seem to bother them. Everybody could feel that it was worth the chill when the band played their most famous songs such as “Helena Beat,” “Call It What You Want,” and the radio friendly encore song “Pumped Up Kicks.”
Setlist:
Pseudologia Fantastica
Miss You
Life on the Nickel
Helena Beat
Best Friend
Waste
Coming of Age
I Would Do Anything for You
A Beginner’s Guide to Destroying the Moon
Call It What You Want
Ask Yourself
Houdini
Are You What You Want to Be?
The Truth
Encore:
Pumped Up Kicks
Don’t Stop (Color on the Walls)
Photos by Gus Griesinger. We would like to thank Sara Serafin from Canalside for the credentials to review this show and her help for the entire 2014 season.
