Music note: The Fleet Foxes, stellar sellouts
Photos by Jon Behm
Old-timey folk artist Frank Fairfield opened both shows. The young man was equally impressive on the banjo, guitar, and fiddle. Though it was difficult to make out most of the words of the songs due to Fairfield’s mumbling diction, he definitely had soul. From his appearance and low-fi bluesy sound, Fairfield gave the impression that he could have been hanging down at the crossroads with Robert Johnson just the other day.
Fleet Foxes took the stage next, with lead singer Robin Pecknold immediately engaging in small talk with the audience. His banter throughout the show was one of the more entertaining and strange aspects of the night. Pecknold and various members of the audience discussed, amongst other things, bird songs, the difference between Minneapolis and St. Paul, and the Twin Cities’ zoos. When a good-natured heckler requested that he play “that one song,” Pecknold began playing the opening bars of “Freebird,” to the audience’s amusement.
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Chances are, next time the Fleet Foxes come to town they will play somewhere much bigger than the Cedar. The band have leapt forward in popularity so quickly that their last visit this past summer, at the 7th Street Entry, probably only attracted a fifth of the number of people who came to see them this time around. Next time they'll surely have to play a supersized club like First Avenue. For lucky Twin Cities fans, though, Saturday night was a chance to see a fabulous band in the intimate confines of a small club for one last time.
Jon Behm is a Minneapolis-based photographer and writer. While his specialty is music, Jon has a wide variety of interests that tend to take him all over the Twin Cities on a daily basis.
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