I've seen a lot of legendary bands put on some great concerts in my lifetime. The Who, The Rolling Stones, Pink Floyd, U2, Pearl Jam, Tool, just to name a few of what I've thought were the best. Last night I attended what I can say might have been the greatest concert I've ever been to. Phoenix (the band, not the city) played Madison Square Garden last night and they were absolutely amazing. I've seen them three times before, at Music Hall of Williamsburg, Terminal 5, and Hammerstein Ballroom. Those shows were amazing, although they were smaller venues. Before the show last night I wasn't sure how Phoenix would play in the larger venue, but the sounded amazing. They have unbelievable energy and the crowd was singing and dancing/jumping the whole show.
I've said before that the drummer is the best drummer I've ever seen live, and he held up his reputation strongly last night. He's a lot of fun to watch and really drives the music. At the end of the show, Phoenix was joined on stage by Daft Punk for an amazing rendition of "1901", during which Phoenix front man Thomas Mars came up into the lower section of the crowd. The appearance wasn't announced or planned, but the crowed went crazy when they realized what was going on.
From Sound of the City:
They sounded mammoth -- their hooks were bred for that MSG bass -- and markedly more gregarious than during past gigs, with singer Thomas Mars leaping into the front row halfway through an early chorus, nearly smacking bassist Deck d'Arcy upside la tête upon his return. Last year's endlessly popular, melodically efficient Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix was fully represented; the quartet continued with "Lasso" and, almost immediately, "Girlfriend" and "Armistice." "Fences," the finest Bee Gees single never recorded, enjoyed a literal light show, Mars darting giddily under sharp, staggered columns of white.
And then the end kick, "1901" -- no surprise given the song's ubiquity, but entirely inspired as a live remix. As Daft Punk added blips and scratches, Phoenix leavened them in resounding, torrential bass while Mars bellowed the chorus with atypical abandon, stage-diving into the pit and pantomiming swimming strokes back to the boards. Their two honorary DJs sent them out in a scabrous wall of oscillating noise that lapped over as they met to take a joint bow; as they left the stage, the MSG house lights rose on tearstains and dumbfounded gapes, not to mention a parade of genuine screaming that spilled out of the venue and continued all the way to Herald Square. Yep, really -- believe it. Because I almost can't.
Today, everyone in the music industry is talking about last night's show. Check out the links below for some amazing pictures and video and to read more about this amazing show.
If you've never heard of Phoenix, you should really give them a listen and definitely seen them live.
-Matt
Links:
CMJ Day Two: Phoenix! With Daft Punk! At Madison Square Garden! Holy Shit! | Sound of the City
Phoenix & Daft Punk Wow Madison Square Garden | SPIN
Phoenix & Daft Punk @ MSG (pics, video & setlist) | Brooklyn Vegan
Whoa, Daft Punk Joined Phoenix Onstage At Madison Square Garden Last Night | Stereogum
CMJ Day 2: Videos - Daft Punk joined Phoenix on stage at Madison Square Garden | Eardrum NYC
See also:
Phoenix | mattmaison
Video: Phoenix - "Lisztomania" | mattmaison
Video: Phoenix - "1901" | mattmaison
Phoenix: June 18, 2009 at Music Hall of Williamsburg | mattmaison
MTV Unplugged: Phoenix | mattmaison
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