Alex Henry Foster in Cologne
"It's that guy! And only that guy."
The rain that poured down on Paris the night before at the opening of the Olympic Games is now hitting Cologne. The planned beer garden concert in front of the canteen in the north of Cologne is not a good idea in this weather. So it’s time to go inside, to the big club – admission is still free, a promise is a promise. A short survey shows that no one in the audience has experienced a free gig in such a large hall for a long time. Of course, a hat goes around: all proceeds go to the artists, and people are exceptionally generous. This is because the star of the evening has found a loyal and dedicated fan base. The density of band shirt wearers is astonishingly high.
Alex Henry Foster is the singer of the complex and intense Canadian rock band Your Favorite Enemies, but he is also a musician for whom one band is no longer enough. That is why he is on tour with his backing group The Long Shadows, which is currently more of a live than a studio project. The direction the show will take is already shown by the music that will be playing over the speakers until the start at 8 p.m.: The Cure’s “Disintegration”. When Foster and the band start with “Up Til Dawn”, it seems as if The Cure, Pink Floyd and …And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead are gathering in a medieval market square and starting a ritual. The intensity is high from the start, the guitars roar, Foster plays his instrument with a violin bow, keyboardist Miss Isabel towers over the proceedings and sings like a siren.
This is followed by “I’m Afraid”, a song that symbolizes what Foster wants to convey with his music: In the first part he formulates the countless fears, the song pushes nervously forward until it finds its great resolution in the thought that every fear can be conquered if you know about each other, if you stick together. Foster, in his mid-30s, has already had a wild life, escaped the political dead end of right-wing extremism as a young person, and has been a convincing fighter for human rights for many years. Someone who doesn’t just talk, but also gets things done. And thus: authentic. Which in turn explains the loyal fan base.
The entire show continues Foster’s leitmotif: He and his band play community rock, developing a fabric of music that you can’t escape from and don’t want to escape from. The gig in Cologne is the last show of the tour – and that’s something to celebrate: ten songs are extended to two and a half hours, the encore is a 14-minute version of the epic “Slow Pace Of The Winds”. So what is that? Dark wave, post-rock, prog, noise, emo? Next door, someone whose shirt is completely soaked with sweat says: “What is that? That’s that guy! And only that guy.”
Originally Published in Visions Magazine
Read the original article here.01.08.2024 | 14:42 | Author: André Boße