Front man Robin Pecknold’s has a voice that opens and folds like a dusty once-loved anthology, there’s so much history in his tone: listening, I was like a child lost in wonderment in an Autumn-leafed orchid somewhere… Had it not been for the witty banter the band tossed around between each track to bring us all back to earth aka. The Sydney Concert Hall. Namely from drummer/percussionist Joshua Tillman: who often carried the beat in a beautifully loose-limbed style like a weeping willow draped across the kit, often wielding a maraca or tambourine in place of one stick. He appeared for the encore wearing a backpack in an attempt to partake in an “Australian fad” of gym-gear wearing nerds. Who knew we were so cool?
Another thing about quality folk bands like Fleet Foxes is that there always seems to be one unassuming (usually long bearded) member, in this case Morgan Henderson, who seems to change instruments every song; or key change even! He went from dappling the folk flute like morning light over the edges of “Lorelai” to scratching a sax into the third movement of “The Shrine / An Argument”: one of the most expansive and alluring songs; you need to pack a swag just to listen to it. (Do so and watch the video here.)
And it’s not a journey anyone wanted to end… fortunately the three encore tracks “Sun it Rises” (Fleet Foxes, 2008), followed by a relatively new painfully beautiful acoustic Robin sang solo, “I Let You” (MUST SEE below) before rounding up the cattle for a standing ovation to "Helplessness Blues".
At which point I leant over to my friend and said “Let’s crawl into the awe-inspiring musical bearded heads and live forever."
If you're not moved by this you must be dead inside...
