Foster the People @ Dowsview Park: July 19th 2012 :)

So last night I was very privileged to see Foster the People in TO as well as Kimbra and Tokyo Police club. Needless to say, I rocked out hardcore! Foster the People was incredible! I have never been so inspired by a show, their music and words left an imprint on my soul. Concerts like that just make me so happy to know I have ties to music and one day that's how I will live my life.

They opened the show with Kimbra and she killed it (as expected) that girls voice is crazy insane! When she started singing "Two Way Street" I had legit tears in my eyes. Then when she did "Settle Down" and "Limbo" I was jumping up and down like an idiot with a massive grin on my face.

I don't think though that the crowd really knew who Kimbra was. They looked kinda dead during her performance, which kinda bugged me because Kimbra should be known for more than "Somebody That I Used to Know" And you could tell the crowd would have been more active if she would have announced it, which is kinda unfortunate. Everyone was with it but not really, then there was me, just rocking out to her entire set looking like a crazy person.

  

Tokyo Police Club was incredible as well! The keyboardist, Graham cut his finger open on one of his guitar strings during one of the songs and was bleeding everywhere. He stuck it out like a trooper and bandaged it up just in time to play one of my favorite songs off their most recent album "Bambi" and then when they played "Wait Up" I lost myself all over again. 

Then, Foster the People took the stage...

Oh. My. Gosh

I'm going to be honest here, I really didn't know what to expect from these guys. The thing with Synth-pop bands is that their studio recordings normally have so much sampling and added sound piled onto them, that it is hard for the band themselves to replicate it all live.

This was not the case for Foster the People.

Armed with 6 people on stage, they performed at their full and incredible, jaw dropping potential. I was in awe. Halfway through the show Mark took a moment to honor Radiohead's drum tech, Scott Johnson. Who died a few days prior when one of the stages at Downsview collapsed during sound check. We actually had to walk past the destroyed stage to get to the newly set up venue. It sent chills up my spine to see the twisted metal frame just hanging there. To know that someone had died there a few days before was just eery. 

It was really heart-warming to see Mark bring it up, even though he never knew Scott. That just goes to show that musicians are all family in a way, extended and loved just as if they were related through blood.

However (and I have to shine light on this) It made me so angry that fan-girls were yelling "Marry me Mark!" and "Have my babies Mark!" during his speech about Scott Johnson. I'm sorry but this is a serious moment about a man dying and you feel the need to scream unnecessary comments during a moment of silence?! You don't have to be a fan of Radiohead but have some respect! Further more you are there to listen to the music not to scream about its band members in fictitious scenarios that will never happen to you in your natural born life. 

Anyways *ahem*...The set list that they played last night was super amazing and really long. I couldn't keep track of the songs in the slightest. But all throughout the show, we were rocking like there was no tomorrow. I don't think I've ever been that pumped at a concert before and I've been to a few in the past year. They launched into "Love" a bonus song off of their album "Torches" We found out Mark had wrote that song for P-Diddy...The look on my one friends face when he mentioned that was PRICELESS. But luckily for Foster the People he didn't release the song and they got a fabulous track out of it. 

Then they played "Helena Beat" and my favourite "Houdini" and we were just gone, dancing and singing and jumping as if we were the only ones there. 

They finished the night with "Ruby" which was really beautiful and then they lead it into "Pumped Up Kicks" which is the point where everyone just let loose. I really couldn't move much at that point in the song. Everyone was packed together so tightly but we all still managed to sway and sing and jump.  

It was a hot night, a very hot night. I was surprised half the crowd didn't pass out on the grass. We were all "sweating like a hooker in church" but it was totally worth it all. I am so incredibly happy right now, this is why I love music, why I want to surround myself with it and be a part of it. Music brings people closer together and makes memories, it makes you forget about life and just celebrate what we have, together. 

I was surrounded by good friends, good music and I had a phenomenal time because of it. What a great way to start off the summer of 2012. 

-xoxo

Cloe