Foster the People - NYC Concert - Full Recap, Videos, and Pictures

My favorite band, Foster the People, hit the stage for an explosion of awesome in Central Park and played the last song through a major thunderstorm. Also playing were Kimbra and The Kooks. Best. Concert. Ever.

I got into Central Park for what would turn into an all-day campout in the blistering sun around noon. The energy was electric thanks to dedicated fans who showed up super early. Luckily my fan dedication got me a spot front and center, directly in front of Mark Foster’s microphone. EPIC.

Also playing at the show were the dazzling Kimbra and British act The Kooks, who were energetic and awesome. Kimbra started things off with an injection of tight vocals. I love this woman’s voice! It also helped that she looked stunning in her dress and the band itself was full of energy too. I didn’t know many of Kimbra’s songs (I just got her first US album a couple of days before going to see the concert), but hearing her stuff live was really something special. She is so so talented and I think she has big things ahead of her in the indie rock world.

After Kimbra played almost a full set, I noticed someone in the audience to my right. NICK FREAKIN’ JONAS. Yes, Nick Jonas. Jamming to the same music as me. At the same concert. As if it wasn’t already ridiculously amazing enough, NICK JONAS WAS THERE.

The Kooks were the next act onstage. I’m not sure if there’s any other way to describe them than sexy. All members of the band were especially charismatic onstage, especially the lead singer Luke Pritchard, who really knows how to work a crowd. Through their entire set, they managed to keep me thoroughly entertained and never bored despite knowing even less of their songs than Kimbra. The crowd was seriously enjoying them too, and almost everyone was on their feet dancing to their most well-known song, “Do You Wanna.” Oh, and this is all without even mentioning their brilliant British accents. Every time Luke opened his mouth, it brought a wide smile to my face. And the bulge? Like, really?

When the time finally came for Foster the People, the sky was looking kind of terrifying as it was filled entirely with dark and foreboding clouds. Yikes! Mark Pontius, Cubbie Fink, Isom Innis, and Sean Cimino took the stage, and all was well. Mark Foster came out last to loud applause and much shouting. I love this band!! They opened with the mournfully electro-pop “Miss You”.

Through their entire set, there wasn’t a single song that didn’t “work” in the live format. They even brought crowd-pleaser Kimbra back out for their awesome collaboration song “Warrior”, which has kind of been my obsession lately. The lyrics pierce your soul. That music video rocks, but nothing can beat seeing the duo performing live onstage together. The song was easily one of the highlights of the entire set, even if Mark Foster doesn’t get a ridiculous amount of time to shine.

What happened as the clouds began to accumulate and the wind started blowing out of nowhere are pretty much summed up by the epicness of Mark’s tweets about it all afterward:

Mark Pontius and Cubbie Fink were just too epic for words onstage, putting their soul into every moment. Sean Cimino and Isom Innis were fantastic too. I couldn’t possible be more in love with this band! Mark came out to play what I assumed was going to be “Ruby”, his beautiful ballad of heartache. Instead, the crowd erupted into cheers to start playing “Pumped Up Kicks”, and this is when the most memorable moment of the whole night rolled around.

It DOWNPOURED as Pumped Up Kicks began. Like, I was totally completely soaked and so was everyone around us. Mark looked out at the crowd almost for approval, and we all cheered the brilliant band on as they hit their final high point of the night. At the end, Mark Foster hopped down over the barricade and into the crowd RIGHT NEXT TO WHERE I WAS. I squeezed his ankle, chanting “All the other kids with the Pumped Up Kicks/You Better Run Better Run/Outrun My Gun”. I also grazed his shoulder as he was pulled away by security once the song ended. Completely soaked and high on the fumes of epicness, Foster the People in Rumsey Playfield is certainly not a concert I’ll soon forget.