Take one of the most musically complex and hauntingly melodic bands around, put them on stage in one of the most intimate and acoustically gorgeous venues in the country, and I don’t know if you can describe it as anything short of a religious experience.  Fleet Foxes played to a packed crowd at U of M’s Hill Auditorium Thursday night.  The band mixed it up with songs from both their self-titled 2008 debut and their latest release, Helplessness Blues.  Highlights of the show included moving renditions of “White Winter Hymnal,” “Mykonos” and “Quiet Houses” featuring the beautiful multi-part-harmonies that have come to define the band’s unique sound, along with cuts off their latest album including “Montezuma,” “Grown Ocean” and “Lorelai.”  The ninety-minute plus set closed with rousing renditions of crowd-favorites, “Blue Ridge Mountains” and “Helplessness Blues.”  One of the only songs they didn’t play—unfortunately, also the song that was at the top of my wish list—was “Tiger Mountain Peasant Song.”  But it’s hard to complain when you see a band not only playing to the crowd so well, but also expressing their genuine gratitude for their fan-support.  One thing was clear by the end of the night—there’s little doubt that the band was having every bit as much fun as those of us who were luck enough to attend.

Complete Set List:

The Plains / Bitter Dancer

Mykonos

English House

Battery Kinzie

Bedouin Dress

Sim Sala Bim

Your Protector

White Winter Hymnal

Ragged Wood

Wild Mountain Thyme (Francis McPeake cover)

Montezuma

He Doesn’t Know Why

Lorelai

The Shrine / The Argument

Blue Spotted Tail

Grown Ocean

Encore:

I Let You

Sun It Rises

Blue Ridge Mountains

Helplessness Blues