I’ve attended over 10 concerts within the last year – Mumford and Sons, Imagine Dragons, Edward Sharp and the Magnetic Zeros, The Lumineers; just to name a few. Last weekend I added two new concerts to my list: Foster the People and The Head and The Heart.
Kaley Patterson
A&E Editor
@KaleyKayPatt
Foster the People at Downtown Airpark Oklahoma City, Oct. 2 at 7:00 p.m.
The hum of the bass rumbled, causing silence among the crowd. The hum slowly intensified, purple-hued lights began to glow and the crowd started chanting “Foster, Foster, Foster.” Then the stage went black.
With a burst of white light, Foster the People appeared before their fans and kicked off the show with their song “Best Friend” from their latest album “Supermodel.” Fans sung and danced along with front man Mark Foster – who looks and sounds even better in person.
When I first heard “Supermodel” I wasn’t all that stoked about it, not like I was when I listened to their first album “Torches.” But after hearing several of their new songs live, I knew I had made the wrong judgment – I purchased the album at the end of the show.
At one point in the concert, Mark took a moment to share with the crowd his time spent at the Oklahoma City Bombing Memorial earlier that day. He told the crowd that this generation coming up needs to be brave because they’re the next leaders. Then the band gave an empowering performance of “Are You Who You Want To Be?” complete with flashing red, black and white lights.
In the middle of the show, Mark defined music as communal: it brings people together, but people interpret or experience it differently. He sat down at the piano at the front of stage right and started to play the intro to “Waste” from the album “Torches.” He explained that he wrote the song about someone who doesn’t want to be loved.
It’s funny that Mark mentioned his outlook on music before he played that song because when I first heard it back in 2011, I didn’t think it was that deep of a song. The song is upbeat, but the lyrics make it a sad song.
The chorus goes: “And every day that you want to waste, that you want to waste, you can. And every day that you want to wake up, that you want to wake, you can. And every day that you want to change, that you want to change, yeah, I’ll help you see it through ‘cause I just really want to be with you.”
I love concerts where you learn something new about the band. It makes you appreciate them and their art so much more.
Foster the People encored the concert with a psychedelic, drum-filled performance of “Pseudologia Fantastica.” At the end of the song, Mark waved and blew a kiss to crowd and exited the stage – each band member did the same individually. They’re definitely on my list of bands that I would see again.
Foster the People, thank you for the insight and the party.
The Head and The Heart at Cain’s Ballroom Tulsa, Oct. 5 at 7:00 p.m.
Cain’s is one of the smaller venues I’ve been to, but it was perfect for the intimate sold out show The Head and The Heart performed.
The lights dimmed lowly, and The Head and The Heart came out greeting fans with waves and kisses. They started their second show in Oklahoma with their songs “Cats and Dogs” and “Coeur D’Alene” from their first self-titled album.
They thanked someone they assumed was in the crowd that night for buying them a round earlier at one of the local taverns in downtown Tulsa. They said they didn’t catch the fellow’s name, but I’m totally jealous because The Head and The Heart is one of those bands I would love to have a drink with.
They began to play “Homecoming Heroes” from their latest album “Let’s Be Still.”
On the way to the show, my friend Shelby and I jammed out to The Head and The Heart in her car. We had been praying for weeks for the band to play our favorite song, “10,000 Weight in Gold.”
During the concert, Shelby started to think they weren’t going to play it. Before she could voice her opposition a second time, the lead singer grabbed the mic and said, “This song is called ‘10,000 Weight in Gold.’”
Shelby and I lost it. I’ve never cried at a concert, but that night I did.
I’ve listened to The Head and The Heart for quite some time now, and I’ve never been a huge fan of the solos the only girl in the band does. That night she showed me wrong. During her solo in their song “Rivers and Roads,” she killed her solo, and the crowd was going ballistic for her earth shattering vocals. Her violin playing was also killer.
The crowd had begged the band to play “Rivers and Roads,” and it was the perfect song to end the show before the encore. The crowd’s applause and screams of praise filled the acoustics of the room.
When the band left the stage, the crowd intensified and the floor of Cain’s began to shake.
The Head and The Heart walked back out on stage to the recording of their song “Springtime,” an intro into their song “Summertime,” which they performed.
All night the crowd had been wondering when the band was going to play their signature song “Down in the Valley.” The Head and The Heart saved the best for last. The crowd grooved and sang along to “Down in the Valley” more than they had to any other song that night.
A verse of the song gives a shout out to the crowd’s home state.
“I know there’s California, Oklahoma and all of the places I ain’t ever been to. But down in the valley with whiskey rivers, these are the places you can find me hiding. These are the places I will always go.”
When it was sung the crowd yelled louder than any other.
The Head and The Heart, thank you for the mind blowing experience. I now consider this the best concert I have ever been to.