foals me once, shame on me; foals me 5 times, yes please!

The Anti DC is clearly riddled with problems. However, once in a while something so awesome comes around that it makes this blog take a 180 degree e-turn. In other words, to (sorta) borrow from the great Jay Z, I've got 99 problems but Foals ain't one.

Baby horses, what? No sillies! I'm talking about Foals, the U.K.-based band that's now on its first full-length U.S. tour! They swung by DC last night, rocked the Rock & Roll Hotel and left this blogger happy to have been a part of it.

OK, so the show itself did not go without its problems. A bitch may not have been one, but the sound definitely was. At one point something faulty caused the whole system to implode just as my favorite song (Red Socks Pugie) from the group's debut album (Antidotes) was set to blow up with its epic and very shoutable chorus ("Oh hell no, these vessels/ Our heart swells up, these vessels/ Our heart swells up, which makes them explode!"). And making me almost want to cry, the group then replayed the song, but started midway through. (I later happened to meet the keyboardist, who apologized for that, like, sincerely, so I agreed to forgive -- but I'll never forget.) All right, fine. There were also a few other glitches, according to young (and I do mean young -- i.e., lead singer Yannis Philippakis just turned 22 last night) keyboardist Edwin Congreave. I, being an idiot, didn't catch on to the smaller glitches, but I didn't care. I was just so damn giddy to be at this show (and you'll see why a few inches down when I post some of their incredibly twitchy music videos). However, if you're interested (and you should be!), I'm sure Brightest Young Things writer/interviewer John Foster, who was also at the show, will fill you in on the rest of the story.

And of course crowds in DC never cease to be boring as hell. I danced. By myself. And discovered the old maxim still holds true: White people like standing still at concerts.

But rhythmless crowd aside, allow me to relive my glee and let's just sit back, forget the real purpose of this blog for a minute, forget about the fact that this is the second week I've failed to cajole a guest blogger into doing my unpaid work for me (ahem, is Get Off the Internet Thursday dead? Does anyone care?), and just behold the tightness that is (are?) Foals.

Cassius:


Balloons:


Mathletics:


Hummer*:


OK, I'm done fawning now. I swear.

I lied!

One more!

Last but not least, my fave performed live (without the technological snafus), Red Socks Pugie:


OK, now I really am done. Sorry. (But not really.)

PS -- And what the flip is with Rock & Roll Hotel's ink? This is after several washings and a 30-minute shower (sorry, environment, that's how I roll). I feel dirty.


*This video might be my personal fave, as it features the exact outfit I wore when I went as "Men's Tennis" for Halloween, 2004. It is also the outfit I will wear when my office throws down on the courts.