Foals pulled into Corsica to play an energetic gig at Calvi on the Rocks.
At first I didn’t have tickets and I didn’t really know where or how I’d get tickets to watch them perform. I decided to go to Calvi a week ahead of the gig and asked around for tickets but they said that they were sold out, so I walked to go view the venue and planned a move to jump a fence or something on the night.
This was luckily not needed as Clementine’s sister knew people who knew people and Clem and I were escorted into the venue with the event organiser, free of charge and handed a beer.
I didn’t see any of the other acts and only watched Foals play. They played an hour set with songs from “Antidotes” and “Total Life Forever”. The event wasn’t too crowded and I ended up having an awesome spot. The gig started with ‘Blue blood’ and continued to build and get louder. I can’t remember all the songs they played but one that stood out for me was when they played ‘Spanish Sahara’ with a shorter intro and great crescendo.
Frontman Yannis Philippakis was not very talkative and all I remember him saying was, “merci beaucoup” and “this is our last song”. I don’t know if it’s because of all the French people (there were lots of British folk around too) or if his not a talkative guy, but I suppose we went to see them perform, listen to the music and not listen to stupid jokes or telling us to buy the new CD.
I was standing almost in front with a big tribal tattoo guy in my space. Halfway through the gig Yannis came down from the stage and told the tribal guy’s buddy to fuck off. I don’t know what he did, but Yannis didn’t seem happy and soon moved to the other side of the stage. The songs became louder and his energy increased. The next moment he came back and stage dived on to me and the tribal guy, almost as if he deliberately wanted to jump on this guy. He walked to the back of the crowd, climbed a temporary structure and continued. His and the bands energy grew and he started beating the shit out of the drums with his drumstick.
The gig was everything I wanted from it. An energetic tight performance by one of the groups I never thought I’d have the chance to see live.
Foals are jamming at the Lake of Stars event in Malawi in September. If you’re in Southern Africa around September or anywhere in the world, then mission to Malawi to go check Foals and all the other African acts perform.
I love Malawi and its people and would love to one day return. For those hesitant about going, don’t be. Foals won’t disappoint and Malawi is one of the sweetest destinations I’ve been to.
