Fleet Foxes at Black Cat

Robin Peckhold, lead singer of Fleet Foxes, has the humility of a much less hairy Japanese man. He brushed aside his long hair like a timid maiden and thanked the crowd repeatedly, almost bowing. From behind his beard, he seemed to be genuinely surprised at the size of the sold-out crowd at the Black Cat. "This a staggering amount of people... staggering."

Fleet Foxes have sold out venues for their last few dates, been named band of the week by Slate Magazine, have received 4 stars from Rolling Stone for their self-titled debut, and given a 9.0 rating on Pitchfork. Can someone alert Robin to his own greatness, please? That's not to say I didn't appreciate their humble attitude. TMC was charmed by their rugged lumberjack attire and liberal amounts of facial hair. My heart melted when the guitarist drank a can of coke and Robin sipped tea from a mug. Collective "aw."

The harmonies were stunning, as you can hear by listening to the recorded show on NPR's Live in Concert. Perhaps the only thing I would've appreciated more is a little momentum of the set; there were frequent pauses between songs, but I will forgive them because Robin was under the weather.

Long story short, buy the Fleet Foxes album (and their Sun Rises EP) and get tickets to their nearest show. The recent praise of Fleet Foxes is highly deserved and with tickets as low as $10, it's a bargain spiritual experience. Men with beards and sweet angelic harmonies? Count TMC in.