Foals New Year's Eve Party at HMV Forum. December 31, 2010.
2010 was an absolutely mind-blowing year as I went to more gigs in London than ever since moving back in 2007. A switch just flipped and I found myself attending a gig almost every week.
The previous New Year's Eve parties I've been to have been quite bland to say the least. They had their drunken moments but even with the amazing company, I always felt alone. 2009 NYE was a complete disappointment to say the least.
With the insane music ride coupled with the loneliness entailed by yet another traditional celebration, I decided to take the loneliness out in London and go to one of the many New Year's Eve party in the city.
Truth be told, I found out about Foals playing for Flowerpot's NYE party first before I made this decision thanks to a number of flyers being handed out during previous gigs.
When I got my second flyer, I stared at it at home for a few minutes, made sure Foals on the flyer was not just a DJ set and purchased a ticket right away.
Despite going to the party alone, it was one of the best decisions I've made.
Unusual for me but this time, I arrived quite a bit late for the show as I couldn't get off work earlier than 8 in the evening.
This meant missing support acts which sometimes provide decent surprises. Support for the evening was Chad Valley and Trophy Wife. I will try and give them a listen sometime. Apparently, Trophy Wife is good friends with Foals which could only mean good things.
Once I arrived at The Forum, I attempted to leave my coat in the cloakroom but this proved to be an absolute nightmare. Tried the one downstairs but after 15 minutes of hardly any movement, a guy came over saying there's another cloakroom upstairs. Thinking the queue would be shorter, I went upstairs and found a much longer queue. Stayed here and tried to be patient for around 20 minutes until I gave up since there was only 20 minutes left until Foals comes up onstage.
At this point, I decided to join another queue, this time for a pint of lager. As soon as I reached the bar and gave my order, Foals came up on stage.
Now, I've seen Foals a "few" times already and it's safe to say I know what to expect. Twice in 2010 headlining the iTunes Festival and another for their Total Life Forever album tour. Both shows were pretty much exhilarating and epic. And I left both being quite a sweaty mess.
They started playing at a quarter to 11 and opened up with Blue Blood followed by Olympic Airways. Their setlist for the evening is similar to their recent tour setlist but with less songs. To note, The French Open was missing which was slight disappointment but Hummer was thrown in the mix which sort of redeemed things.
Cassius was a crowd favourite as usual. I'm pretty sure that by this was the third song as I already down the pint I had so I could interact more with the crowd and just enjoy myself.
At some point, Spanish Sahara was played which keeps on sounding better live each time I hear it. When I first heard it back in Heaven, it wasn't as polished as it is now and back then, I didn't like it. It's such a beautiful song and is easily one of my favourite songs from Foals.
Other songs played during the evening were Red Socks Pugie, Miami, Balloons, Total Life Forever, and Electric Bloom.
I am plenty sure they also played Tron which they haven't played (in a gig I've been to) in ages.
At 5 minutes to midnight (or so), they started playing Two Steps, Twice which I somehow expected as there isn't really another song more fitting in their repertoire to end and start a year.
With less than a minute to midnight, Foals built up the excitement in the atmosphere with the guitar portion in the middle of the song, dragging it out until it was close to midnight. Then, it was time for the "Pa-pa-ra" portion, still building up as there was still a few more seconds to midnight.
At almost midnight, the chorus came in and the whole place got absolutely crazy. Confetti falling from everywhere. It was epic. It was amazing.
Here's a messy and wild video I took of the few seconds before and after midnight.
After the epic song, everyone greeted each other a Happy New Year and Foals left the stage. Caribou DJ set was on afterwards.
I stayed for another pint, enjoying the DJ set and trying to relax a bit. After the pint, I decided to go home even though DJs were still playing and would be until 4 in the morning.
Even though I basically paid 30 quid to see just one band (playing a shorter set than usual), it was well worth the money. It was an absolutely amazing experience. So much better than watching millions of pounds of taxpayers money being blown up by the Thames.
This was might not be the best Foals gig I've been to, but it will sure as hell be one of the most memorable ones ever. Foals. Two Steps, Twice. HMV Forum. 2011.
I am now thinking why the hell I haven't been to a NYE gig in 2007, 2008, and 2009. I am now looking forward to another one to close what would hopefully be an incredible 2011 and welcome 2012.
That's 12 months away though. In the meantime, it is time to start filling this year up with incredible experiences to make 2011 as good and if possible, better than 2010.
Happy New Year!
----------------
Now playing: Foals Countdown To 2011 With Two Steps Twice @ HMV Forum, London (New Year's Eve 2010/2011)
http://foxytunes.com/artist/-/track/foals+countdown+to+2011+with+two+steps+twice+%40+hmv+forum%2c+london+(new+years+eve+2010+2011)
The previous New Year's Eve parties I've been to have been quite bland to say the least. They had their drunken moments but even with the amazing company, I always felt alone. 2009 NYE was a complete disappointment to say the least.
With the insane music ride coupled with the loneliness entailed by yet another traditional celebration, I decided to take the loneliness out in London and go to one of the many New Year's Eve party in the city.
Truth be told, I found out about Foals playing for Flowerpot's NYE party first before I made this decision thanks to a number of flyers being handed out during previous gigs.
When I got my second flyer, I stared at it at home for a few minutes, made sure Foals on the flyer was not just a DJ set and purchased a ticket right away.
Despite going to the party alone, it was one of the best decisions I've made.
Unusual for me but this time, I arrived quite a bit late for the show as I couldn't get off work earlier than 8 in the evening.
This meant missing support acts which sometimes provide decent surprises. Support for the evening was Chad Valley and Trophy Wife. I will try and give them a listen sometime. Apparently, Trophy Wife is good friends with Foals which could only mean good things.
Once I arrived at The Forum, I attempted to leave my coat in the cloakroom but this proved to be an absolute nightmare. Tried the one downstairs but after 15 minutes of hardly any movement, a guy came over saying there's another cloakroom upstairs. Thinking the queue would be shorter, I went upstairs and found a much longer queue. Stayed here and tried to be patient for around 20 minutes until I gave up since there was only 20 minutes left until Foals comes up onstage.
At this point, I decided to join another queue, this time for a pint of lager. As soon as I reached the bar and gave my order, Foals came up on stage.
Now, I've seen Foals a "few" times already and it's safe to say I know what to expect. Twice in 2010 headlining the iTunes Festival and another for their Total Life Forever album tour. Both shows were pretty much exhilarating and epic. And I left both being quite a sweaty mess.
They started playing at a quarter to 11 and opened up with Blue Blood followed by Olympic Airways. Their setlist for the evening is similar to their recent tour setlist but with less songs. To note, The French Open was missing which was slight disappointment but Hummer was thrown in the mix which sort of redeemed things.
Cassius was a crowd favourite as usual. I'm pretty sure that by this was the third song as I already down the pint I had so I could interact more with the crowd and just enjoy myself.
At some point, Spanish Sahara was played which keeps on sounding better live each time I hear it. When I first heard it back in Heaven, it wasn't as polished as it is now and back then, I didn't like it. It's such a beautiful song and is easily one of my favourite songs from Foals.
Other songs played during the evening were Red Socks Pugie, Miami, Balloons, Total Life Forever, and Electric Bloom.
I am plenty sure they also played Tron which they haven't played (in a gig I've been to) in ages.
At 5 minutes to midnight (or so), they started playing Two Steps, Twice which I somehow expected as there isn't really another song more fitting in their repertoire to end and start a year.
With less than a minute to midnight, Foals built up the excitement in the atmosphere with the guitar portion in the middle of the song, dragging it out until it was close to midnight. Then, it was time for the "Pa-pa-ra" portion, still building up as there was still a few more seconds to midnight.
At almost midnight, the chorus came in and the whole place got absolutely crazy. Confetti falling from everywhere. It was epic. It was amazing.
Here's a messy and wild video I took of the few seconds before and after midnight.
Click to viewAfter the epic song, everyone greeted each other a Happy New Year and Foals left the stage. Caribou DJ set was on afterwards.
I stayed for another pint, enjoying the DJ set and trying to relax a bit. After the pint, I decided to go home even though DJs were still playing and would be until 4 in the morning.
Even though I basically paid 30 quid to see just one band (playing a shorter set than usual), it was well worth the money. It was an absolutely amazing experience. So much better than watching millions of pounds of taxpayers money being blown up by the Thames.
This was might not be the best Foals gig I've been to, but it will sure as hell be one of the most memorable ones ever. Foals. Two Steps, Twice. HMV Forum. 2011.
I am now thinking why the hell I haven't been to a NYE gig in 2007, 2008, and 2009. I am now looking forward to another one to close what would hopefully be an incredible 2011 and welcome 2012.
That's 12 months away though. In the meantime, it is time to start filling this year up with incredible experiences to make 2011 as good and if possible, better than 2010.
Happy New Year!
----------------
Now playing: Foals Countdown To 2011 With Two Steps Twice @ HMV Forum, London (New Year's Eve 2010/2011)
http://foxytunes.com/artist/-/track/foals+countdown+to+2011+with+two+steps+twice+%40+hmv+forum%2c+london+(new+years+eve+2010+2011)