Off the back of mass demand from fans knocking over the box office for a chance to see the Oxford alt-rockers, Foals have bumped their September tour of Australia into a seven-date run, the biggest tour we’ve seen from the band Down Under yet.
Not only that, but Foals have announced that Melbourne six-piece Alpine will be providing their sensuous indie sounds to their September Tour as the opening support act on the national tour, returning to their home turf after departing this month for a US tour with Crystal Fighters to commemorate the American launch of their debut album, A Is For Alpine, as they recently told Tone Deaf in a video interview.
Alpine’s addition to Foals’ Australian tour only adds to the anticipation for the British band’s arrival. After selling out their Sydney and Melbourne theatre dates last month, Foals have added second shows to both capital cities, at Melbourne’s Palace Theatre on Thursday 26th September and Sydney’s Enmore Theatre on Sunday 29th September. Tickets for both dates will go on sale this Friday 7th June.
The news will come as a relief to fans of the quintet who missed out on tickets in Sydney, Melbourne, and Brisbane – all of which sold out months ahead of their Aussie return. Tickets to the band’s SA appearance in Adelaide and in Perth, WA are still available, but won’t be for long as word spreads of Foals’ Holy Fire, the ARIA #1 album that is the focus of their ferocious live show.
“I think there is a distinct difference between our live shows and our records,” keyboardist Edwin Congreave told Tone Deaf in a recent interview. “We still like to play very intensely with a lot of aggression at the live show.” “We still like to play very intensely with a lot of aggression at the live show… we need to see the crowds physically react.” – Edwin Congreave, Foals
The keys wrangler noted that it was the incorporation of muscular numbers from their third and latest album that have revolutionised their new live show, which Australian audiences were among the first to witness during the band’s Big Day Out visit in January this year (check out our video interview with them here), producing a mix of signature, punchy riffs and stream-lined dance backend.
“I think those have been the ones that are the easiest to incorporate into the live shows. We need to see the crowds physically react, and so to get that reaction we have to play the harder songs, songs like ‘Inhaler’ and ‘Providence’, both from this record,” says Congreave.
Ahead of hitting the road with Surfer Blood for a mammoth North American tour, the Mercury Prize nominated Foals also stormed the stage at Coachella and also appeared on US talk show Jimmy Kimmel Live. Frontman Yannis Philippakis has set tongues wagging across the globe, with his vicious on-stage antics sparing none. Though fellow bandmate Edwin calls Yannis “one of the most absorbed perfectionists I’ve ever known, which is an amazing quality. He wouldn’t want to put out anything that’s bad.”
Following the techno-influenced indie rock of Antidotes, their 2008 debut, and its Mercury shortlisted follow-up Total Life Forever two years later, the band have stuck to one rule – making guitar music you can dance to that can still make you think.
In February 2013, they delivered arguably their finest album yet: Holy Fire.
“We wanted a record that was all gut,” says frontman Philippakis. “The mission we set was to get freer. The focus was on the emotion: from our hearts and our hands, into the instruments and the microphones, then out of a speaker, six months later – and into your ears.”
Debuting at #1 on the ARIA album charts thanks to first single “Inhaler” (2.7m YouTube views and counting) and follow-up “My Number”, the Triple J Feature Album was recorded by infamous producers Flood (PJ Harvey, U2) and Alan Moulder (My Bloody Valentine, Yeah Yeah Yeahs), at the pair’s Assault & Battery studios in North West London.
With their reputation for ferocious and savage live shows, and a catalogue of sharp, captivating songs to fill them with, demand for these extra Foals tickets will be high. The newly-added dates in Melbourne and Sydney go on sale Friday 7th June, while Perth and Adelaide are on sale now – but be quick!
Holy Fire is out now via Transgressive/Warner Music Australia, read the Tone Deaf review here, read the Tone Deaf review here.
Foals 2013 Australian Tour
with Alpine, supporting nationally.
Supported by Triple J, Street Press Australia and Tone Deaf
SUNDAY 22 SEPTEMBER: METRO CITY, PERTH – (18+)
Tickets from: oztix.com.au & 1300 762 545
TUESDAY 24 SEPTEMBER: HQ, ADELAIDE – (LICENSED ALL AGES)
Tickets from: oztix.com.au & 1300 762 545
THURSDAY 26 SEPTEMBER: THE PALACE THEATRE, MELBOURNE – (18+) – NEW SHOW ADDED!
Tickets from: ticketek.com.au & 132 849
FRIDAY 27 SEPTEMBER: THE PALACE THEATRE, MELBOURNE – (18+) – SOLD OUT! Tickets from: ticketek.com.au & 132 849
SATURDAY 28 SEPTEMBER: ENMORE THEATRE, SYDNEY – (LICENSED ALL AGES) – SOLD OUT! Tickets from: ticketek.com.au & 132 849
SUNDAY 29 SEPTEMBER: ENMORE THEATRE, SYDNEY – (LICENSED ALL AGES) – NEW SHOW ADDED!
Tickets from: ticketek.com.au & 132 849
WEDNESDAY 2 OCTOBER: THE TIVOLI, BRISBANE – (18+) – SOLD OUT! Tickets from: ticketek.com.au & 132 849
Tickets on sale 9am, MONDAY 18 MARCH
