After seeing a half-hour Phoenix set last month, it left me wanting so much more. Thankfully, that “more” came just five weeks later – this last Saturday the 23rd at the Showbox SoDo, literally right down the street from where I saw them last month.
The Soft Pack served as the opening course for the night, and with how ridiculously packed this venue was, they held their own pretty well. I was virtually unfamiliar with the Soft Pack, but now I can say that I was pleased I saw them. With the quick and punky “C’Mon” and “Pull Out,” they got the crowd dancing like it was the year 2000. Seriously, they felt like a nice throwback to the garage rock of the beginning of the decade – like early Strokes with less swagger and more gusto. They played through their strong set list that included other standouts, “Extinction,” “Brightside” and “Parasites,” all scribbled down on a ripped napkin that lay on the floor. The understated frontman-ness of Matt Lamkin met with the raw energy of lead guitarist Matty McLoughlin made for a great synergy on stage. They felt very current, yet seasoned. I totally dug it. Be sure to keep your ears peeled for these guys in 2010.
After their 40-minute set, the Soft Pack exited the stage to make way for Phoenix’s gear, front and center. Thankfully I found myself in front of the guy with an obscene amount of frizzy hair, who was originally standing in front of me. But he did provide one especially random moment of the night – as Phoenix was just about to step on stage he shouted, “Come on guys, allons-y!” “Allons-y,” meaning “let’s go” in French isn’t just a culturally relevant phrase to shout to a band that hails from France, but for me it was a hilarious reference to the BBC sci-fi show “Doctor Who.” But that could be just me.
Opening with “Lisztomania,” the French foursome started out their just-under-90-minute set just as strong as I remembered from last month. But on this night, we had three times as many songs from them, which made the show exponentially better. Paired with trippy strobe lights half the night, I can say that this was the craziest dance party I’ve been to… possibly ever. The one negative I could bring up was how full the Showbox SoDo decided to book for this show. Even when I tried to duck out of the crowd directly in front of the stage during the encore, I could barely find a clear spot against the wall. Definitely a claustrophobic’s nightmare.
But Phoenix surely did not disappoint – playing almost all the songs off last year’s “Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix,” as well as some old tunes. Including – “Consolation Prizes,” “Rally,” “Long Distance Call” and “Napoleon Says” off It’s Never Been Like That, an extra slow and groovy version of “Everything is Everything” from Alphabetical, and even the epically heavy “Funky Squaredance” and the light and dancey “If I Ever Feel Better” and “Too Young” off their 2000 debut United. Those were especially nice surprises after someone shouted from the audience, “Lost in Translation soundtrack, yeah!” Some people say the darndest things.
Even Thomas Mars does. At one point, I can’t remember when, he declared that he wanted to thank the people of Federal Way – a small suburb of Seattle, about 20 minutes out of town. I never figured out why, but it could have been the first town they saw when they got off the plane. Who knows?
Throughout the night, Phoenix moved through the best of their catalogue, transitioning dynamically from an energetic dance number like “Lasso” to an extended haunting electronic track like “Love Like A Sunset.” It all led up to the extremely lengthy encore, which is was all right by me. Mars took a nice little trip out into the audience, crowd-surfing as far as the microphone cord would let him, while Deck D’Arcy, Laurent Brancowitz and Christian Mazzalai stayed up on stage and jammed for a good solid five minutes with the same trippy strobes lighting up the room. After introducing their “farewell song,” they played three more – which included the huge hit, “1901,” and a giant dance party where everyone within leaping distance jumped up on stage to close the set. At that point, I wasn’t in leaping distance, but I did get a picture of those who were.
Even with how unpleasant SoDo was, I left very pleased with my second Phoenix show, and in fact, my first show of the new decade. Thank you, Phoenix, for starting out this decade wonderfully. Seattle will be glad to have you back many more times.
Set List:
Lisztomania
Long Distance Call
Lasso
Rally
Fences
Girlfriend
Armistice
Love Like A Sunset
Napoleon Says
Too Young
Consolation Prizes
Rome
Funky Squaredance
ENCORE:
Everything is Everything
If I Ever Feel Better
1901
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