Austin – Already armed with hit single Pumped Up Kicks, Los Angeles band Foster The People was all over Austin this year hoping to further their profile with a host of shows at SXSW. I was at their showcase at Filter’s Culture Collide party, a series of concerts that in recent years have been a launching pad for bands such as the Temper Trap, White Lies and Late of the Piers. Taking the stage at 3:00pm, the three piece band spent the next 40 minutes playing rather radio friendly tracks to the packed crowd at the Cedar Courtyard.

With lead singer Mark Foster manning a series of synthesizers, I initially could not place my finger on who Foster The People sounded like, then after hearing tracks such as Houdini, it hit me – Foster the People reminded me a lot of Passion Pit, if Passion Pit was in love with Billy Joel. Summery melodies laid over electro beats, it became pretty apparent that this band will be headed for popularity shortly. Hit single Pumped Up Kicks had the crowd moving and while the bands music wasn’t as large a revelation as say, Temper Trap were last year in terms of blowing the fans out of the water, the band definitely delivered on their hype and I expect more catchy things when their debut album Torches hits the stands in May.

Here are some other shows
3/25 Portland, OR Mississippi Studios
3/26 Seattle WA High Dive *SOLD OUT
3/27 Boise, ID Reef
3/29 Salt Lake City, UT Kilby Court
3/30 Denver, CO Walnut Room
3/31 Kansas City, MO The Record Bar
4/1 Minneapolis, MN 7th Street Entry
4/2 Chicago, IL Schuba’s *SOLD OUT
4/3 Toronto, ON Lee’s Palace
4/5 Montreal, QC Petit Campus
4/7 Boston, MA Brighton Music Hall
4/8 New York, NY Mercury Lounge *SOLD OUT
4/9 Brooklyn, NY Knitting Factory *SOLD OUT
4/10 Philadelphia, PA Kung Fu Necktie
4/11 Washington DC Red Palace
4/17 Indio, CA Coachella
5/30 George, WA Sasquatch

Foster The People – Pumped Up Kicks by MusicForBears