Foxygen, the always evolving band led by longtime friends Sam France and Jonathan Rado, have come a long way over the years. We first caught them at a Chinese restaurant during their breakthrough moment at CMJ 2012. Here we are five years later, and now the band are headlining Terminal 5, all in support of their new album Hang, which was released earlier this year via Jagjaguwar.
This was a solid bill, featuring sets from Purr (formerly known as Jack + Eliza) and New York darlings Sunflower Bean. Purr said it was their second live show under the new name and band, and they played a solid set that certainly warmed up the crowd.
If you go to rock shows even semi-regularly in New York City, it was pretty hard to miss Sunflower Bean over the past year. The group have been everywhere since 2015 and have no signs of slowing down. Their set featured a bunch of new songs that sounded like a bold expansion of their debut, with some mature elements at work that reminded me a bit of Fleetwood Mac. Based on the crowds excitable reaction during their performance, it’s safe to say that Sunflower Bean will only be getting bigger in 2017.
Foxygen once again graced us with the expanded live-lineup that they showed off during their intimate performance at Rough Trade last December, with the five-piece horn section that helped them fill out the large space that is T5 for the first show of their new U.S. tour for the album. The regular set was actually the same as they performed at Rough Trade NYC, but done with much more confidence after having been on the road for a few months live since we last saw them. France, Rado and backing singer Jaclyn Cohen remained animated and full of life, giving the performance a welcome spark.
While last time they only performed a one song encore, this time they delivered a three-song encore of “On Blue Mountain,” “How Can You Really” and “No Destruction” (“Make It Own” was listed on the setlist but was unfortunately cut). It was here that the band seemed to be most at ease, and just cut loose in a very familiar fashion that was most welcome.
Find the setlist posted below, along with photos from all three bands performances.
Foxygen Setlist:
1. We Are the 21st Century Ambassadors of Peace & Magic
2. San Francisco
3. Shuggie
4. Follow the Leader
5. Avalon
6. Mrs. Adams
7. America
8. On Lankershim
9. Upon a Hill
10. Trauma
11. Rise Up
Encore:
12. On Blue Mountain
13. How Can You Really
14. No Destruction
Purr:
Sunflower Bean:
Foxygen:
Join the conversation