This was my second time seeing Phoenix live. Almost a year ago, they headlined FORMAT Festival. It was, at the time, the best live performance I’d ever seen. The crowd was so into it, and Thomas Mars seemed to feel the same way, as he promised he’d come back on his next tour, and as soon as those tickets went on sale, I immediately bought them. I got lawn tickets, because I am on a college budget.
We get to the AMP, and the lawn and seats are pretty much sold out, but the pit was lacking. They sent venue staff around the lawn area letting everyone know that they were doing the $10 pit upgrades. Obviously we rushed over to the pit with our newly purchased armbands and got barricade spots right in the middle.
Opening the night was Sir Chloe, the indie rock/pop outfit from Vermont. I went into their set knowing some of their newer songs, such as “Should I”, from their most recent album I Am The Dog, but not at all well versed in their other stuff.
Considering that the crowd was mostly just arriving after work, and finding their seats, they had the audience in a grip with the presence they had on stage.
It was an absolutely phenomenal performance, maybe one of my favorite openers I’ve seen this summer. I am always impressed when openers can get the crowd energized like that in a large (but only 1/3 full) venue like they did. I’ve been streaming “Know Better” all week.
Weyes Blood was up next. Her style is a little slower than what I usually listen to, but she was really good. I don’t think I’m going to go save every album on Spotify just yet, but between her and her backing band’s performances, it was still really enjoyable.
I think that the more moody tone of the set was a good switch-up between Sir Chloe and Phoenix, keeping the audience from getting any more fatigued than we already were due to the heat.
The stand out song from this set, for me at least, was “Everyday” from her 2019 Titanic Rising. She has a fantastic voice in that classical chorist kind of way.
I also aspire to have the kind of confidence it takes to really own an outfit like that on a humid 95 degree Arkansas day.
If you know anything about my music taste, you know that Phoenix is probably my favorite band, especially since their FORMAT show. I stand by that.
Sometime during Weyes Blood’s set, the previously sparse crowd was absolutely packed to the very end of the lawn. When Phoenix appeared, playing “Lisztomania”, the entire crowd stood, and they never sat back down.
Because this set was about 20 tracks long, I’m not going to cover every song. If you’re interested in the setlist, I linked a Spotify playlist at the beginning of this review.
The first few songs included “Entertainment”, “Lasso”, among others. They also played most of a song from their debut album, United, “Too Young”, combined with “Girlfriend”. Phoenix often merges songs from their different eras when playing live, which makes both songs feel totally new and exciting.
Later, Thomas Mars paused to explain that they try to play “Love Like a Sunset” as the sun is setting.
They then do something that’s usually referred to as “Sunskrupt!”, which is exactly what it sounds like. It transitions from “Bankrupt!” to “Love Like a Sunset”. It’s not just a normal melding of songs, though. There’s some history to it.
Bankrupt! was the band’s first album after they found widespread success in Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix. Bankrupt! makes several references to Wolfgang, the titular song borderline reprising instrumentals from “Love Like a Sunset”. Deck d’Arcy really carries here, with his technical skill on bass. This brings an intensity to the stage that’s indicative of what’s to follow.
They lighten it up a little with “Tonight”, off the newest release, Alpha Zulu. Vocalist Thomas Mars really excels here, performing both his and Ezra Koenig (of Vampire Weekend)’s parts.
Next is a surprisingly moody merging of two tracks, “If I Ever Feel Better” and “Funky Squaredance, pt. 3”, both from United. Leading out of the first song, Thomas Hedlund killed it with a drum breakdown to end all drum breakdowns. He even broke a drumstick (more on that later).
The lights cut, and immediately, a Bauta Mask-clad figure emerged from a dark stage, bringing the entire crowd to a standstill, Mars knelt to it while singing the most intense verse from “Funky Squaredance”, with only Hedlund’s bass drum and keys to back him. Eventually, the figure and Mars disappear, only for the figure alone to reemerge with a (very realistic) model of Mars’ severed head, a reference to Phoenix’s origins in Versailles.
The last song I’ll discuss specifically is “Winter Solstice”, of Alpha Zulu. They bring the mood up a little with this one, bringing out a prop rock ledge from the music video for Mars to stand on, and Hedlund now has a glass of red wine (from where? We’ll never know.). Leave it to the French guys to drink wine on stage instead of beer. This song was played pre-release at FORMAT festival, and right then, I knew it was a top five Phoenix song for me. I really enjoyed getting to see it live again after hearing the studio version.
They played four more songs after that, leading into their breakout single, “1901”, which was just as good as ever.
Finally, Thomas Mars walks through the crowd, and to the lawn, taking his time while the band plays a reprise of “Identical”. You could tell he was just feeding off the energy that this crowd had. He crowdsurfs over the seats, all the way back to the stage (directly over me), security catching him as he comes over the barricade. He thanks the crowd and exits.
The band begins to leave, and Thomas Hedlund walks towards the crowd with the drumstick he broke earlier, and then he threw it to me. Cooler than any merch I could get.
Ten out of Ten.