Phoenix lives up to their name
Paradise, Boston, June 18, 2009
Reviewed by Jeffrey B. Remz
Phoenix is living up to their name as the French-based danceable pop bound is on the upswing. After being together for 10 years, the quartet is enjoying an increased following in the U.S. following in the steps of their compatriots Daft Punk and Air.
Having a well-received album like the just released "Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix" will do that for you. The band, from the Paris suburb of Versailles, is in the midst of an heightened buzz online, no doubt helped by an April appearance on Saturday Night Live. So, it was no wonder the club was sold-out with more than 600 showing up, among a slews of sold-out shows on their current U.S. tour.
While Phoenix does not possess a very wide musical palette, they were certainly very very good at what they do. Thomas Mars sang every song in unaccented English with his vocals typically mixed very high, and he was a good front man in putting the songs across by pretty much letting the music be the focal point instead of his personality. He has some of that, getting into the songs - he glided through the songs with a lot of ease - and engaging the crowd sufficiently that they would respond with clapping in helping establish a beat.
And what a good beat it was with the guitar/synth/keyboard lines of Laurent Brancowitz propelling the music along with the drumming. The instrumental Love Like Sunset had keyboards as the backbone with a different feel from the rest of the show. The music tended to be light and airy and highly propulsive and easy to sink into. Typical of the evening was the closing song, 1901 from "Wolfgang..." The song was fast, lively and got the heads bopping and hands clapping.
It may have taken Phoenix to get where they are, but the rise was well deserved.
