In a prelude to their Splendour in the Grass performance, Foster The People played a sold out performance at The Gaelic in one of the smaller and more intimate shows of their tour which was in ways indescribably good - though I am describing it right now.

Guineafowl was first up and warmed up the crowd. The Gaelic was the perfect size for the band to harness the command of the crowd, filling the room their upbeat and catchy tunes. As attendees walked through the doors of the venue, Guineafowl made their presence noticed and caught the audience up in their high-energy performance. The group seem more and more like a coherent and tight band these days rather than just ‘Guineafowl’ (the lead singer/guitarist) and a band he has put together to back him.

Foster the People finally took to the stage with “Warrant” in a whirl of occasionally blinding and hard-to-look-at lights and strobes as the lead singer smashed into a drum in an almost tribal-like manner. Throughout the set, members of the band bounced seamlessly from instrument to instrument without breaking a stride in their racing sound.

The live show added a whole other layer to their album Torches that separated each instrument in their songs more clearly, allowing stand out on their own rather than blend in with the rest. High impact percussion lines, guitars hooks and dreamy synths ricocheted off the walls in a motley of sound that cannot be harnessed by merely an MP3 or CD.

The audience was a frenzy of movement and singing, with the Gaelic leaving people with just enough room to dance as the crowd lapped up all that Foster The People had to offer. “Pumped Up Kicks” – the song that got the group noticed in Australia, coming 32nd in Triple J’s Hottest 100 2010 - turned into a duel of singing back and forth between the crowd and the band, making it the clear song of the night.

Finishing off with “Colour on the Walls (Don’t Stop), Foster The People returned in an encore with a much more sober cover of Neil Young’s “Heart of Gold” and then moving back into intensity with single “Helena Beat”.

It was so good I could have seen them again the following night at The Metro (read: I did).