Closing out a momentous year opening for the Flaming Lips in San Francisco on New Year’s Eve (REVIEW), psychedelic rockers Foxygen kicked off 2015 by blowing the mind of a certain late night talk show host on Thursday night. Hitting the stage on the Late Show with David Letterman, the band delivered a rowdy version of “How Can You Really” off their 2014 album … And Star Power. While they typically perform as a 9-piece these days, Foxygen pulled out all the stops by upping to a 13-piece band. Check out a video of the performance below:
[youtube id=”T943KTBi7q4″ width=”630″ height=”350″]
Based on David Letterman’s ecstatic reaction, it seems Foxygen’s performance was an impressive network television debut for the young band. The grey-haired host isn’t the only one to be wowed by Foxygen. Back in November Glide’s own Neil Ferguson had this to say about their performance at Fun Fun Fun Fest in Austin, TX:
“Considering their onstage meltdown and cancellation of all gigs thereafter at SXSW in 2013 and subsequent blunder at Austin City Limits Festival the same year, Foxygen had a local reputation to redeem this time around. Remarkably, the band actually pulled it off without any shenanigans besides finishing their set ten minutes early. Onstage Foxygen focused more on creating a spectacle of rock and roll performance art than playing coherent songs. A shirtless, heroin chic Sam France gyrated across the stage to a cacophony of distortion and musical chaos. In this case, the songs didn’t matter so much as the energy and willingness of France to inject every bit of Mick Jagger-like bravado into his performance. Ultimately, it was a relief to see that such a promising young band has finally discovered what it means to be professionals.”
The band has also announced a round of tour dates for this spring…
FOXYGEN TOUR DATES:
Tue. Mar. 31 – Boulder, CO @ Fox Theatre
Thu. April 2 – Omaha, NE @ The Waiting Room
Fri. April 3 – Iowa City, IA @ Mission Creek Festival
Sat. April 4 – St. Louis, MO @ Firebird
Mon. April 6 – Columbus, OH @ Skully’s Music Diner
Tue. April 7 – Milwaukee, WI @ Turner Hall
Thu. April 9 – Chicago, IL @ Metro
Fri. April 10 – Madison, WI @ University Of Wisconsin-Madison: The Sett
Thu. May 7 – Liverpool, UK @ Kazimier
Fri. May 8 – Leeds, UK @ Brudenell
Sat. May 9 – Glasgow, UK @ Stereo
Mon. May 11 – Bristol, UK @ Lantern
Tue. May 12 – London, UK @ Electric Ballroom
Thu. May 14 – Hellendoom, NL @ Dauwpop
Fri. May 15 – Aarhus, DK @ Pop Revo – Voxhall Stage (main)
Sun. May 17 – Luxembourg, LU @ Rokhal
Mon. May 18 – Reims, FR @ La Cartonnerie
Tue. May 19 – Zurich, CH @ Plaza
Thu. May 21 – Vienna, AT @ WUK
Fri. May 22 – Prague, CZ @ MeetFactory
Sat. May 23 – Mannheim, DE @ Maifeld Derby
Sun. May 24 – Dortmund, DE @ Way Back When
Tue. May 26 – Hamburg, DE @ Knust
Wed. May 27 – Munich, DE @ Strom
Thu. May 28 – Milan, IT @ Tunnel Club
Sun. May 31 – Paloma/Nimes, FR @ This Is Not A Love Song Festival
Mon. June 1 – Paris, FR @ La Machine du Moulin Rouge
Wed. June 3 – Bordeaux, FR @ Barbey Rock School
Fri. Aug. 14 – Gothenburg, SE @ Way Out West Festival
Sat. Aug. 15 – Helsinki, FI @ Flow Festival
One Response
Sad that a nobody like this could get to this level…what a mediocre voice! Not, BAD, exactly, just not very good…based on the mix, he must have really pissed off the audio engineer…there are many great singers out there, but the heroin chicness (so passe!) is the only thing that brings him to our attention? Second-rate, smirky hipster backup singers, bland arrangements…looks like the coke was pretty good though…oh yeah, and the reviewer saying they were “finally…professionals” is not exactly…a glowing endorsement. But of course the only way today’s fans can accept repackaged unoriginal old-school soul/R&B is by having it performed by fellow adorable youngsters who make them feel all comfy. Literally a one-note performance. euuggghhh