SFist Reviews: Fleet Foxes and Blitzen Trapper @ the Fillmore
by Moses Namkung
When discussing West Coast locales with the audience, Fleet Foxes frontman and Seattleite Robin Pecknold jokingly said, "... everybody from Seattle hates us". Excuse me? Baking powder? Your humble SFist correspondent, born and bred in the Emerald City, begs to differ. And last night's sold out audience at the Fillmore loved you, for sure.
Portland-based Sub Pop tourmates Blitzen Trapper broke in the crowd with their own set of harmonic blends, beards and lumberjack plaid. Furr, their latest album, is darn good... and BT played most of the album in their set, spinning melodic stories about werewolves ("Furr") and murdering cowboys ("Black River Killer").
Also, in unrelated news, BT keyboardist/guitarist Erik Menteer looks like he could possibly rock the Flock of Seagulls 'do if he wanted.
Now, those fleet little foxes. A wee bit of hype surrounds them - back in December 2008, Pitchfork named Fleet Foxes the best album of the year (in related news, the same snobby bastards gave music a 6.8). That album, by the way, featured Brueghel as the album art. Yes, before Where's Waldo, there was a 16th century Netherlander painting complex pictures with tons of crap going on. Just look at Netherlandish Proverbs. Props to the person who can find the bare ass sticking out of a window, dropping a deuce.
Back to Robin. He's endearingly awkward on stage. With his frequent, slightly nervous "Thank you so much" *sip of water*, "Thank you", coupled with a mildly self-deprecating sense of humor, he brought to mind... Seth Cohen!? Yes. And the ladies loved him accordingly. But hey, the kid (he was born in 1986) does have talent. Halfway into the set, he came out for a few solo pieces including a Duncan Browne cover, and for the first encore, went solo again, but this time unplugged and un-miced, with "Katie Cruel". Sweet performance.
Catch Fleet Foxes tonight @ Palace of Fine Arts with Vetiver or on 4/21 @ Fox Theater in Oakland with Blitzen Trapper.