I have Foster The People to thank, among other things, for bringing my best friend and I together.
After a high school teacher introduced me to one of their songs, “Call It What You Want,” at the start of sophomore year, I brought it up to my friend, only to learn that she was already obsessed with Foster The People. She told me to listen to their full debut album, Torches, and soon enough, it was all we talked about — it was the perfect distraction from the dull routine of school that we felt trapped in. When the band’s second album, Supermodel, arrived in 2014, she bought us each a copy and we gushed over every track for the rest of our senior year. Our love only continued with the release of Sacred Hearts Club in July 2017.
They were one of many artists that helped us through the ups and downs of being teenagers and cemented our status as best friends. As fixated as we were on their psychedelic sound and lead singer Mark Foster’s distinct voice, we realized that we would probably never get to see them in concert. They were based in Los Angeles and cool indie bands like Foster The People just didn’t come to places like our small suburban town.
Needless to say, we were both overjoyed and in disbelief when they announced a North American summer tour earlier this year, and Philadelphia was one of the cities on the list!
After a long five years without a single headlining show in the City of Brotherly Love, Foster The People made a memorable return to a packed house at The Fillmore in Fishtown, on Monday, September 18th.
The band opened with “Pay the Man,” a fast-paced pop-rock tune that is carried by solid electric keyboard riffs. The twenty-somethings in the crowd joyfully sang along to every word as frontman Mark Foster danced his way across the stage with a smile on his face, clearly happy to receive such a warm welcome back from Philly fans.
Photo credit: Morgan O’Donnell
The two hour set that followed consisted of a mix of songs from all three Foster The People albums. Some standouts were Supermodel’s tribal, drumbeat-infused “Are You What You Want To Be?” to their 2011 breakout hit “Pumped Up Kicks” (which, no, is not the band’s only good song and yes, is still as catchy as it was the first time you listened to it in your friend’s basement and whistled along to it without knowing it’s about a school shooter).
Throughout the night, the band pulled off a few additions to the setlist that brought cheers from longtime fans in the audience. This included “Broken Jaw,” a rarity that appeared on the iTunes edition of Torches, and “Ruby,” a soulful song that was only ever released as a single in 2015, as well as a phenomenal cover of The Ramones’ “Blitzkrieg Bop.”
The band fed off of the energy from the crowd, with Foster often gesturing for more volume, losing himself in the hypnotic rhythm of the music, and encouraging everyone else to do the same. The punchy lighting pulses and roaring guitars and synths practically invited concertgoers to let go of their worries and give in to the carefree spirit of the night.
After all, this was the band’s primary intention in making Sacred Hearts Club. Upon releasing the EP that previewed three tracks from the album, Foster tweeted, “We wrote these songs to reflect joy in a time where people have needed it more than ever.”
To go along with the uplifting mood of the record, halfway through the show, Foster gave a moving speech that emphasized the importance of positivity and acceptance, especially given the current political climate in the United States.
“There’s a lot more love in the world than there is evil, and it’s truly up to us to extend our hand and pick people up that are having a hard time,” Foster said. “Joy is our best weapon against oppression and depression, and music, in my opinion, it’s this magical, spiritual thing. [There is] nothing more unifying than music.”
His words perfectly sum up what I felt, and what I’m sure the entire crowd at The Fillmore felt, during every minute of every song Foster The People played that night. In an increasingly polarized and painful world, they provided a temporary escape and a space for fans to come together as a community, and the importance of that cannot be understated. From the first beat to the last, the band gave their all and the fans gave their all in return, which made it one of the most memorable concert experiences of my life.
Good music can touch the heart, but truly great music speaks to the soul and sticks with you forever. Foster The People has proven that’s what they do best.