Foster The People – Mercury Lounge, NYC 08/04/11

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Photo by Ryan Muir

LA-based Foster the People have taken the US blogosphere by storm, much like Vampire Weekend did with their idiosyncratic afro-pop and Tyler the Creator with his surprisingly deep rape-rap, which ultimately landed the trio a deal at Columbia Records. I’ve been championing them for close to a year now, with their healing mix of MGMT and Maroon 5 or Aphex Twin and Brian Wilson, whichever you prefer (or however old you are).

Although soundcheck tonight takes slightly longer than expected, the stagehand has a British accent that affords my lady friend and I an opportunity to use our awful fake ones. The wait is both long enough to perfect the sound and long enough to recognize undeniable attraction. Win-win.

In other words, it’s already off to a great start. Once the lights dim, four dudes dressed in All Saints step out and the crowd goes wild, throwing their encouragements and cheers onstage like applausal flowers (first of many instances). Missing is Mark Foster, the frontman and namesake, waiting in the wings, collecting himself for a pensive second to let the magnanimity of it all sink in. As soon as he finds his way to a drum, brandishing a pair of sticks of his own, it is time to begin.

Foster the People’s second New York show kicks off with two parallel tropical drumlines, with electronic flourishes dancing above the hits. ‘Warrant’, a cut from their new album is their go-to first song for live shows for a reason. The smooth harmonies and catchy hooks serve as both a primer for new fans and a glimpse of their raw energy. After eventually sliding over to man the ivories, Foster seamlessly slips into a groove, his shoulders bouncing along like his fingers on the keys. With a purpose.

During another new song, ‘Miss You’, I realise that pegging each member to a single instrument would be reductive. They’re each multi-instrumentalists switching off from drums to keys to guitar to chiming in with their vocal cords.

After ‘Houdini’, they revert immediately back to new material with ‘Call It What You Want’ and ‘Hustling’. The former has a more modernised Motown vibe with solo arpeggios and soulful rhymes galore, while the latter carries falsetto-driven melodies and an absolutely euphoric bassline. ‘Hustling’ also bridges the gap between the first half and the second half. It’s when I start to notice the bandmembers feeding off each other’s energies and then off the energy of the mutually sweaty room.

Halfway through their set, they make the same moves, just with darker shirts and wider smiles. Mark Foster is dancing exactly like the crowd, no frills, no bullshit, just emotion. It brings him down a metaphorical level, from the stage to the floor, and the entire room is caught up in this positive feedback loop. It’s like the “People” in “Foster the People” are literally everyone in attendance, just like how Marina’s fans are her “Diamonds” (but less infantilized, obviously).

Another new one, ‘Broken Jaw’, follows with soaring guitars and more celestial falsetto. At times, my mind immediately jumps to Two Door Cinema Club, which is an impossibly good comparison point. As if to one up the theatrics, they then play their claim to fame, the summer song of 2010, ‘Pumped Up Kicks’.

‘Kids’ is for the older fans. It’s one of the floating songs that never made an official release, but the catchiness of it still resonates well with the enthusiastic room. The finale is a song my friend had been waiting to hear all night, and every time she asked for ‘Helena Beat’, I kept mishearing it as “I want a beat”, to which I repeatedly replied “Me too”. And we finally got it. Under the faint house lights, the five red silhouettes rock out and harmonise, burning lasting impressions into the eyes of every bopping head.