Francis Farewell Starlite of Francis and the Lights
Every time I see Francis and the Lights live, the following things happen: 1. I love them more and more; 2. I cannot figure out why the word “and the lights” is in the title of his band as he often performs mostly in the dark; and 3. I crack up watching the crowd not know what in the world to think of Francis at first. Then he zaps the crowd with one of his awesome dance moves and from that point on, the crowd is in love. All of these thing occurred when I saw Francis and the Lights open for Mark Ronson and the Business Int’l at Music Hall of Williamsburg on October 11, 2010. I am praying that Francis and Mark Ronson had conversations about working together in the future because I think that collaboration would be nothing short of amazing! Francis and the Lights had a different set up last night using a 2 piece band (plus Francis) instead of the usual 5 members. What this meant was the arrangements of every song were dramatically different than I’ve heard before, which once again shows the talent this man has! I cannot remember the exact set list as there was none posted, but I know he performed a new song as well as my favorites “Strawberries” and “For Days.” A video of “Strawberries” will be coming soon, so stay tuned.
Unfortunately, this video is pretty dark as Francis and the Lights ironically performed mostly in the dark. However, he played a new song for the sold out crowd at SOB’s in New York on August 12, 2010 called “Betting on Us,” and unlike other websites who repost videos that are available on numerous sites and call them “premieres,” this site is the real deal.
The lead singer of Francis and the Lights has legally changed his name to Francis Farewell Starlite. According2g, that makes him totally awesome immediately. It helps that his music is pretty great as well and when you see him live as I did on August 12, 2010, the Prince comparisons make total sense. The guy dances his butt off on stage and coupled with the amazing band he has backing him, you’ll find yourself making “the funky face” many times as you watch him perform. I’d read a few articles and they alluded to Francis Farewell Starlite being difficult. As I walked into the afterparty following his awesome performance, Francis Farewell Starlite was anything but difficult. In fact he was extremely nice! He took photos with myself and a few other fans and was very personable. He also autographed his CD “It’ll be Better” for me. I couldn’t resist asking him what his favorite Prince song is and without hesitation, he said “Pop Life.” Good choice! Best of luck Francis. See you next week at the MGMT show and hope to see your name in lights for many years to come!
Francis Farewell Starlite of Francis and the Lights
When I started hearing the comparisons of Francis and the Lights to Prince, I naturally knew I must see this band immediately. I’ll be seeing them next week open for MGMT (which I am very excited for), but when I found out they were doing a very hard to get into�show at S.O.B.’s in New York, I decided to check them out in advance. I arrived at S.O.B.’s to be treated to hearing the DJ spinning great tunes including a bunch of Prince protege tracks such as “The Dance Electric” by Andre Cymone, “Sex Shooter” by Apollonia 6, “Be Your Man” by Jesse Johnson and “Player’s Ball” by Mazarati. That was quite exciting as I’d never heard a lot of those songs in public before. I’d read a few articles about Francis Farewell Starlite – yes – he’s legally changed his name to that, and every article made him sound difficult and arrogant. Great!
He took the stage about 30 minutes late and so far, the articles were right on. Then when he started performing, he was absolutely electric! He’s got the moves of James Brown and Prince, the voice of Jake Shears meets MGMT and a tight band. It seems that once he started performing, he was the exact opposite of all the things I’d heard. He talked to the audience, he was appreciative of the thunderous applause and he was dancing all over the place, giving the sold out crowd a great show. He played every track from his album “It’ll be Better,” and he also played a new song called “Betting on Us.” A video of that will be coming soon. He performed mostly in the dark, so the video will reflect that, even though I was in the best spot in the house. I think his live performance is much stronger than his album, but I think the album is quite good too. I think we are going to be hearing a lot more from Francis and the Lights, which might just be the funk injection the music industry so desperately needs. I was invited to the afterpartyand I had an enounter with Francis Farewell Starlite. Want to know what his favorite Prince song is? Was he as difficult as everyone says? Stay tuned to find out.
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