I know this is long overdue, but last Thursday I had the pleasure of finally seeing the band Phoenix live on their first New York show ever... and first US tour! One thing I quickly discovered as the lights dimmed for the show and they launched into "Too Young" is that people LOVE (and I mean seriously LOVE) this band. While a lot of their music is reminescent of the cheesy europop that became my guilty pleasure after five months abroad in Italy, something about their music transcends that. I'm not sure if it's because they're french or what, but this show was great. Even if they did play "Everything is everything" twice and I generally hate it when bands repeat songs (maybe this is a french thing? Once I had the misfortune of seeing Eiffel 65 in concert -- some random radio show -- and they played that Blue Badadedadadadadadadada song at LEAST twice). Maybe it's that Phoenix doesn't come off like a cliche corporate sell out group(aka Maroon 5 or Jason Mraz or whatever).
Well whatever it is about them, there was something electric in the air at Bowery Thursday night (and Wednesday was no exception from what I hear) and Phoenix's long overdue stateside arrival was a resounding success here in NYC.
Openers Benzos were fantastic, and finally seeing them on a larger stage from Pianos or Mercury Lounge was very rewarding. Unfortunately, I just cannot manage to get into Inouk. I'd like to blame it on how utterly exhausted I was but honestly I just zoned out for most of their performance. Someone said something to me about Morrissey at one point during their set in reference to how one of their singers sounds, but I was just like "eh ok." Oh well, you can't love them all.
More updates coming later... about my debauchery fest of a weekend, questions about why there are so many great shows happening on ONE NIGHT (this Thursday), and how doritos are the breakfast of champions.