Presumably a cross between The Bee’s intimate Upfront series and last year’s rollicking Urbanscapes Satellite Shows, the newly minted Upfront Arena gets its first taste of the limelight when Foals come to town this March. The much-vaunted Oxford quintet specialises in a buoyant brand of funk-drenched indie-rock, which is fleshed out by groovy dance-punk flourishes.
Yannis Philippakis and gang first came to prominence in 2008, when exceptional debut LP ‘Antidotes’ took the UK by storm. This was followed by the release of ‘Total Life Forever’ a couple of years later, which established Foals as one of Britain’s most sought-after new acts. The band’s latest record, 2013’s ‘Holy Fire’, was their most accomplished yet and spawned several swanky anthems, including the infectious ‘My Number’, ‘Inhaler’ and ‘Last Night’. Opening the band's maiden KL show are Singaporean melodic folk rockers Monster Cat and Dangerdisko's Robotron 5000. Wong Boon Ken