The Marquee, Cork
As dusk descended around the Marquee, there was an air of soft expectancy for what lay ahead. Agnes Obel and Owen Pallett were perfect support choices, sharing common ground in terms of their classical sensibility and radiant approach. Obel performed a delicately beautiful set, borrowing from the Riverside EP and Philharmonics, ably supported by Anna Müller, who provided mournful cello. Pallett's performance was as free and inspired as we have come to expect, and he tells us that this is the first time he has played with a band in Ireland, who enrich his deceptively complex, warm and elegant sound, with Lewis Takes Off His Shirtas a highlight.
Then Fleet Foxes take to the stage, and within moments we are transported to a place of soaring otherness. They move fluidly between their two records, with the majestic Drops in the Riverflowing seamlessly into Battery Kinzie, recalling Simon and Garfunkel. On record their music sounds light as a feather; exquisite harmonies set off by an intense musicianship, but live they become a heavyweight proposition. In part this is because of their obvious kinship, but there is also a heavier edge provided by Morgan Henderson, the brilliant multi-instrumentalist whose background is in post-punk (as a previous member of The Blood Brothers). At one point Pecknold says that Ireland is very "special", and when he incants "one day at Innisfree" (from Bedouin Dress), there is a palpable sense of magic.
Mykonosbrings an appreciative cheer from the crowd (who Pecknold refers to as "super sweet") and its swirling, eerie harmonies frame White Winter Hymnalwhich becomes a mature kind of nursery rhyme. The Shrine/An Argument,filters elements of improvised jazz as well as dreamy folk, and is an unexpected gem, and Blue Ridge Mountainsbrings us back to their sense of nature, pastoral and human; it is a nostalgia that resonates. As the band returns to honour the title track from their most recent record, an elderly Cork man gives me a tap to conspiratorially say "I was brought up with The Beach Boys, but these lads' harmonies are something else". Super sweet.
