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Phoenix opens soundcheck to students before La Zona Rosa show
(From left, Laurent Brancowitz, Deck D’Arcy, Christian Mazzalai and Thomas Mars of Phoenix talk with high school and college students Thursday at La Zona Rosa. Photo by Jay Janner/AMERICAN-STATESMAN)
About 20 high school and college students were lucky enough to see an intimate performance by French pop rock sensation Phoenix during their soundcheck Thursday afternoon at La Zona Rosa. The band, who are playing Thursday night along with Austin’s White Denim as part of 101X’s Independent Workforce X-Mas show, also took questions after the performance as part of the Grammy Foundation’s SoundChecks program.
Except for a few minor tweaks, the band put on a better-than-soundcheck quality performance of songs from their most recent album, “Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix,” including “1901,” “Fences” and “Lisztomania.” While the band’s energy wasn’t as high as it would be during an actual performance, it was fun to see lead vocalist Thomas Mars meander around the stage and venue, making sure everything was set for later in the evening.
The students seemed to love every minute of the experience. Daniel Kubala, a senior at Westwood High, said he thought the show was amazing. “They played a lot more than I expected, which was a really nice surprise,” he said.
After the set students and band sat down for a Q&A, with questions ranging from the band’s influences (13th Floor Elevators and Velvet Underground, to name a couple) to the success of their latest release. When asked why they thought the band had gotten so popular, guitarist Christian Mazzalai replied, “we really don’t know,” but Mars attributed it to the leak of their album and their appearance on “Saturday Night Live” earlier this year. When asked what bands they were currently excited about, Mars named the Dirty Projectors “Bitte Orca” as his favorite of the year.
Other topics touched upon:
— On writing songs in English: “It takes more time. It’s not more difficult, it just takes more time.” (Mars said they think in French and write in English.)
— On the band’s name: It came to them when they were teen-agers. “It’s just a beautiful name for us.”
— On referencing classical composers in lyrics: They’re trying to create their own European mythology. “Andy Warhol took Marilyn Monroe. We take European dead guys. It’s nice because there are a lot of them.”
Check out some pics from the soundcheck after the jump.
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