Foals reveal bassist Walter Gervers has rejoined the band
Indie giants Foals have announced the return of founding member and bassist Walter Gervers.
Gervers’ departure from the group was revealed at the start of 2018 with Foals stating the musician planned “to pursue a new life”. They added: “The parting has been sad but we remain firm friends. He’ll always be out brother, we love him and wish him well in his future endeavours. We had 12 amazing years touring together from a small postal van to the Pyramid Stage and beyond. It’s the end of a chapter, but not the end of the book.”
Now, frontman Yannis Phillippakis has shared an Instagram post of Gervers with the rest of the band in the pub and confirmed his return. He captioned the image: “After six years in the alpine wilderness guess who’s back in the band? Walter is back and better than ever. Rejoining for all the coming shows and into the future. Get ready, the boys are back in business.”
Following Gervers’ exit from the band, he was replaced on bass duties for live shows by Everything Everything’s Jeremy Pritchard and Jagwar Ma’s Jack Freeman. In 2021, keyboardist Edwin Congreave also left the group to pursue a postgraduate degree at Cambridge University, and devote himself to “join others in technical efforts to mitigate the imminent climate catastrophe.”
This week, Foals embark on an intimate set of shows across the United Kingdom including a homecoming concert at O2 Academy Oxford before heading to South America to support Paramore on tour. This summer, the band headline the Reading & Leeds Festival alongside Sam Fender, Billie Eilish and The Killers.
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