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Live review: Phoenix
In a year filled with synth-heavy pop rock, French pop rock group Phoenix, who reportedly flew in from Paris this morning, released one of the most celebrated albums of the year, ‘Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix.’ Their set this afternoon on the AMD stage was more rock than pop, packed with pregnant pauses and heavy guitar licks. After starting out with an energetic “Lisztomania,” The band was sidelined by what frontman Thomas Mars deemed technical difficulties, which he tried to compensate for with a cover of fellow French band Air’s ‘Playground Love,’ which fell flat with Mars’ vocal backed by a single guitar.
They recovered with groove-heavy version of ‘Fences,’ and ‘Run Run Run,’ where a dark beat dropped into even darker rock. Guitars gave way to keys on ‘Too Young,’ which also showcased drummer Thomas Hedlund’s energy. Mars repeatedly expressed how grateful he was to be playing to the audience, which he said was the group’s largest ever. Closer ‘1901’ was a highlight, complete with Mars jumping into the audience and a false ending that gave way to a raucous conclusion.
Ricardo B. Brazziell photo
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Permalink | Comments (1) | Categories: ACL 2009: Friday, ACL Festival 2009
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By TTP
October 5, 2009 11:34 AM | Link to this
Didn’t notice any of the technical difficulties. Loved the genuine emotion from the frontman. Great performance. Had a blast.