Fleet Foxes and Mother Nature tend to battle when the band visits Raleigh, North Carolina. We’re not talking a rap battle or a battle of the bands, but more like a battle of the downpours. It seems that the Raleigh, North Carolina water gods plan their showers without consulting with the band’s tour plans. The last couple of visits by the band resulted in fans getting soaked as wellas the band. Would the band’s July 29, 2022 visit to the Red Hat Amphitheater in downtown Raleigh, North Carolina result in more rain? The evening started out sunny and hot, but as showtime approached so did the dark clouds. Fleet Foxes lead vocalist Robin Pecknold came out on-stage with a Bible before the opener Uwade to have a few words with the crowd. He mentioned the band’s bad luck with rain on their prior visits. He said he wasn’t going to read from the Bible, but he was going to ask if God could hold off on the rain. Then, Nigerian born singler Uwade, who appears on the Fleet Foxes’ 2020 record Shore, took to the stage solo with just her amazing voice and a guitar. Her voice was incredibly beautiful, but unfortunately her set was cut short just a few songs into it. Lightning started to light up the sky and the venue was evacuated. After about a 45 minute delay, we were let back in for the show. Fleet Foxes were allowed to play past the 11:00pm curfew to make up for that delay. The band was accompanied by Uwade for the first song “Wading in Waist High Water” and the combination of both artists was such a perfect pairing with each artist complimenting the other sonically. She would later return during the encore for another song. The band setlist included songs from five different albums and a few covers. They are at the top of their game when it comes to American folk music. They’ve built a strong following in Raleigh as well as just about every other city that they’ve played throughout their career. We highly suggest that you catch them if they come through your town. Maybe they can play an indoor venue.

Words and pictures by I’m Music Magazine Owner/Editor Johnny Price