Foals, in session at the BBC’s Maida Vale studios – (MV3 to be exact) from February 13, 2013 – broadcast and streamed live.
Foals formed in Oxford in 2005. The band’s current line-up consists of Greek-born lead vocalist and guitarist Yannis Philippakis, drummer and percussionist Jack Bevan, rhythm guitarist Jimmy Smith and bassist Walter Gervers. They are currently signed to Warner Records, and have released seven studio albums to date: Antidotes (2008), Total Life Forever (2010), Holy Fire (2013), What Went Down (2015), Everything Not Saved Will Be Lost – Part 1 and Part 2 (2019) and their most recent, Life Is Yours (2022). They have also released one video album, six extended plays and thirty-five singles.
The band have toured internationally for over a decade, and have featured at many festivals including Glastonbury, Coachella, and Roskilde. They have won a number of awards, including best live act at the 2013 Q Awards while producers Alan Moulder and Flood were awarded ‘UK Producer of the Year’ for their work on the album Holy Fire.
Everything Not Saved Will Be Lost – Part 1 and Part 2 were released March and October 2019, respectively, with the latter becoming the group’s first album to top the UK Album Chart.
Foals are considered one of the top UK live acts, having won the 2013 Q Award for Best Live Act and twice being nominated for the NME Award for Best Live Act (2011 and 2013).
The band have released several live EPs (Live At Liars Club, iTunes Live: London Festival ’08 and iTunes Festival: London 2010), in addition to the full-length concert film Live At The Royal Albert Hall, which was directed by Dave Ma.
Frontman Yannis Philippakis is known for jumping off balconies and crowd surfing during the extended interlude of “Two Steps, Twice” In October 2013, Philippakis got into a confrontation with a security guard at the Auckland Town Hall in New Zealand, as the security guard attempted to prevent him from jumping into the crowd. At the end of the show, Philippakis told the crowd: “I want to say a massive thank you to you and fuck that security guy.”
And there you have it – this session is a tad more sedate (no security guard, for one thing) but the audience is thrilled nonetheless.
Press Play and dive back into 2013 for the next half hour.
