To start, this was a record-breaking show. First, for temperature. It was, bafflingly, the hottest show I’ve ever attended by far. And second, for decibels achieved, by both the band and the audience.
- 90 degrees; some light brow sweat — The openers, Brooklyn’s Amazing Baby play straightforward rock ‘n’ roll that doesn’t really go anywhere. The band members are all a bit shaggy. Their singer wishes he were Brett Anderson of Suede, or Marc Bolan of T. Rex. They may write a hit in the future, but I didn’t hear one last night. After six or seven songs, their singer mumbled something about everyone getting laid tonight, which is a boring cliché of a thing to say when you’re in a rock band, and they were gone.
- 95 degrees; general discomfort, stickiness, pervasive comments about the temperature, crankiness — After a painfully-long soundcheck, singer Thomas Mars and crew crowded onto the tiny stage, piled four deep across the front with a drummer in the rear, and a jack-of-all-trades sixth man in the corner. Phoenix jumped straight into the awesomeness with the ’80s bop of “Lisztomania“. Mars swayed around lazily and gripped the microphone stand as if he might faint at any second. His physicality mirrors his vocal style, which is a kind of lethargic, forlorn and cracking whine that no one else could pull off. The guitar parts are percussive and jangly, while the bass and the drums say, “Hey, feet! Dance!”
- 100 degrees; being elbowed by a guy on crack who is dressed like the Flash is not fun, especially when your face is melting into your shirt — Phoenix hopped back and forth between older material, like “Funky Square Dance” (which can be left out of the set next time) and newer tunes, like “Lasso” and “Girlfriend”. “Run Run Run” was the only track they played from Alphabetical. Most of the songs came from their two most recent albums. All told they played a very respectable 14-song set (plus two encores), which, for the most part, read like a best-of compilation from their four proper studio albums. Seven songs from Wolfgang, five from It’s Never Been Like That, one from Alphabetical, and three from United.
- 110 degrees; disgustingly hot, Death Valley + rainforest humidity, dizziness, some panting, smiles all around — Phoenix lingered off-stage for a few minutes before returning to play a fairly predictable encore of “If I Ever Feel Better” and “1901”. The former was reworked so that halfway through it converts from smooth disco to power-chord rock. During the grinding force of the back half of the song, Mars’ voice was obscured completely, which didn’t matter since the crowd happily yelled the lyrics for him. The floor-shaking synth lines that open “1901” were greeted with loud cheers from the audience. The song’s verse yields to a strong pre-chorus of “Hey Hey Hey Hey Hey Hey,” which, in turn yields to the booming chorus of Mars singing, “Falling Falling Falling Falling!” The song ended as it does on the album, after a quick three minutes. And just when we thought the show was over, a high guitar line teased that it was not. Mars snuck down into the audience as the band rebuilt the platform for the chorus, which he then sung again and again for a pool of jumping, rabid, sweat-drenched kids. The cheers after the show were just as deafening as the set itself.
