This was a difficult gig to get to, logistically-speaking. However the effort was worth it both for the Fleet Foxes and the excellent support "Blitzen Trapper". There are some support acts that you know you are going to like three bars into the first song and they were definitely one of them. The played a sort of electric indie folk with added attitude and did it very well. There were two good guitar players but they were never showy and the band did great vocals as well. On just one or two occasions I got a hint of the Grateful Dead - pretty good going for a support band.
Various members of the Foxes joined in some of their songs and the others also stayed in the wings watching the show.
Lead singer Robin Pecknold made a number of Roy Harper references during the gig starting with saying how great it was to play in Manchester the birthplace of Roy Harper and at one opint offering to buy any original Harper vinyl.
Live the Foxes sound was harsher, deeper and denser than the album and that added something important for me. As you would expect the vocals are just brilliant throughout. Pecknold spent lots of time medicating his throat with various herbal teas and there was some banter about that from the audience. Someone also requested "Freebird" during one of the pauses between tracks and the band enjoyed that request.
He played solo for a number of tracks and took this to an extreme at the begininng of the encore when he stepped to the front of the stage and sang and played with no amplification. The Manchester Apollo is a big old Odeon and the mostly standing crowd were not particularly quiet so I think that took some real nerve. It worked and there was a strict slience during the track.
Although the audience was a little on the noisy side the tracks that reduced them to silence and produced an amazing reaction that left Robin looking puzzled, was when he first performed solo.
Tracks that really stood out for me included "Your Protector" and "Tiger Mountain Peasant Song" but basically that is just personal preference - the delivery of all the songs was pretty much faultless and was different in feel to the album.
It is always the sign of a great gig that it stays in your head for a while. This is still there despite having seen Steve Earle a few days later.
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