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Foster The People: Tiny Desk Concert

By Bob Boilen
Published September 9, 2011 at 9:50 AM EDT

There was a scene at this year's Sasquatch music festival that truly caught me off guard. I went to see Foster the People — I'd heard a few of the band's songs, and we'd posted "Pumped Up Kicks" on the All Songs Considered blog last summer — but I'd missed how many people had fallen in love with the group. The greeting Foster the People received felt like a homecoming.

Ann Powers, in a recent piece on The Record, was on the mark: This was thesummer song of 2011, with dark lyrics and a hooks that can kill. The band is from L.A., and Mark Foster is its leader — it was called "Foster and the People" until someone misheard the name. It stuck.

There's plenty more to Foster the People, and in some of the darkness, there's also music filled with great joy. It's music that comes from a friendship between Mark Foster and Mark Pontius, and here at the NPR Music office, they shared the love.

Set List

  • "Houdini"

  • "Helena Beat"

  • "Pumped Up Kicks"

    • Credits

    Michael Katzif (cameras); edited by Bob Boilen; audio by Kevin Wait; photo by Amanda Steen/NPR

    Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

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    Music News from NPR
    Bob Boilen
    In 1988, a determined Bob Boilen started showing up on NPR's doorstep every day, looking for a way to contribute his skills in music and broadcasting to the network. His persistence paid off, and within a few weeks he was hired, on a temporary basis, to work for All Things Considered. Less than a year later, Boilen was directing the show and continued to do so for the next 18 years.
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