Saint Louis Music Park turned into an indie-pop party on Wednesday night, as Foster the People brought the Good Mourning Sunshine Tour to Maryland Heights with Goth Babe opening. In a full house, the bill delivered exactly what the tour title promised: bright hooks, restless energy, and a set built as much on deep cuts as on the songs everyone came to sing.
Goth Babe set the tone before Foster the People ever took the stage. Griff Washburn and his band worked the outdoor room with the same restless movement that has defined the project on this run, spinning through sun-washed indie pop and pulling the crowd in early. The set was short, danceable, and generous, the kind of opener that leaves the night warmer than it found it. By the time the house lights dropped for the headliner, the park was already on its feet.
Foster the People hit around 9:10 p.m. and opened with “Helena Beat,” a Torches-era jolt that immediately framed the night. Mark Foster’s voice sat clean and confident over a tight band, with the synth textures that have always been the group’s signature doing as much work as the guitars. From there the set moved with purpose: “Waste,” “Are You What You Want to Be?,” and “Coming of Age” kept the early stretch nimble, before “Life on the Nickel” and “Lamb’s Wool” opened the catalog a little wider.
The middle of the show was where the Good Mourning Sunshine concept really landed. “Houdini” and “Call It What You Want” drew some of the loudest sing-alongs of the night, and the return of “Goats in Trees” and “Lost in Space” rewarded fans who have followed the band past the radio singles. “Miss You,” “Don’t Stop (Color on the Walls),” “Lotus Eater,” and the sprawling “Pseudologia Fantastica” kept the momentum from sagging, and “A Diamond to Be Born” closed the main set on a high, modern note rather than a pure nostalgia play.
The encore did the rest. “Sit Next to Me” turned the crowd into a choir, and “Pumped Up Kicks” — still the song that introduced this band to most of the room — landed as a celebration instead of a concession. Seventeen songs, eight of them from Torches and four from Supermodel, with room for Paradise State of Mind, Sacred Hearts Club, and “Lamb’s Wool” from the 2020 EP In the Darkest of Nights, Let the Birds Sing, made for a set that felt curated rather than obligatory.
Saint Louis Music Park has always suited this kind of show: open air, a crowd close enough to feel like a cohort, and a stage big enough for the lights without swallowing the songs. Foster the People used all of it. The night was polished without feeling distant, nostalgic without feeling stuck, and loud in all the right places.
The Good Mourning Sunshine Tour, with Goth Babe, continues through late October before closing at the Greek Theatre in Los Angeles.
Upcoming dates:
- Oct. 2 — Sterling Heights, Mich., Michigan Lottery Amphitheatre
- Oct. 3 — Toronto, RBC Amphitheatre
- Oct. 4 — Pittsburgh, Citizens Live at The Wylie
- Oct. 6 — Boston, MGM Music Hall at Fenway
- Oct. 7 — Washington, D.C., The Anthem
- Oct. 8 — Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, Blossom Music Center
- Oct. 10 — New York, Forest Hills Stadium
- Oct. 11 — Philadelphia, Skyline Stage at the Mann
- Oct. 13 — Nashville, The Truth
- Oct. 14 — Atlanta, Coca-Cola Roxy
- Oct. 16 — Austin, Texas, Moody Amphitheater
- Oct. 17 — Houston, 713 Music Hall
- Oct. 18 — Irving, Texas, The Pavilion at Toyota Music Factory
- Oct. 21 — San Diego, Gallagher Square at Petco Park
- Oct. 23 — Los Angeles, Greek Theatre
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