French alt. rock sensations, Phoenix, have been one of the most talked about bands of 2009. Their brilliant fourth studio album Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix has already seen the release of two outstanding singles: 1901 and personal favourite of mine, Lisztomania. I’ve heard very good things about the band’s live show, although recently I’ve heard murmurings of the ongoing ill health of lead singer Thomas Mars which has caused a couple of below par performances this year, thankfully tonight wasn’t one of these, quite the opposite in fact.
Tonight’s support came from Brooklyn natives Chairlift, my only knowledge of them prior to this evening is the song Bruises which was featured on an iPod Nano advert, and the fact that they’re good friends with MGMT. They gave a good, solid performance – perhaps brought down a little by the inexplicably sombre mood of the crowd during their act but nonetheless I was impressed, especially by lead singer Caroline Polachek’s vocal chops.
The excitement levels of the audience were already through the roof during the 40 minute interval (a little excessive) between Chairlift and Phoenix. As the lights went down, roars went up and a very bassy, atmospheric backing track played out as the Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix sign flashed on the black backdrop. Phoenix took to the stage led by lead singer Thomas Mars, the backing track stopped abruptly and they unleashed into Lisztomania, lead by their tour drummer Thomas Hedlund who I must say was outstanding all evening. The crowd’s energy at this point was sky high, singing along to every word and jumping to every beat. The band had no problem matching the crowd’s energy. They hit high after high for the next 30 minutes of the set, with a perfect succession of songs from It’s Never Been Like That, Long Distance Call, Consolation Prizes and Napoleon Says. This combination of songs one after another, absolutely tore the place down.
The band paced themselves very well through the mid-half of the set, Lasso was definitely a great crowd-pleaser, especially during the drum intro using two drummers followed by Armistice and old fave Funky Squaredance. They then slowed proceedings down perfectly, playing both movements of “Love Like A Sunset” as well as some early tracks from United and Alphabetical. The set ended with a superb rendition of an all time favourite Too Young and the two more exceptional new tracks Girlfriend and Rome.
The band saved the best for the encore with 1901, the band’s first single from Wolfgang and an all round crowd favourite. As the 1901 outro played out and they thanked the crowd repeatedly I thought to myself what a triumph the show had been. The evening was excellent and ranks as one of the best shows I’ve been to.
Also, big thanks to Johnny @ Co-Op and Chris @ Coalition Group