Rising from the Ashes

So, for those of you who read this thing, you probably noticed a post a while back about the French band Phoenix and their cigarette smoking promotional appearance at the Bowery Ballroom.

The deal was that the only fans who could attend the show were those hooked up with the Camel smoking club - and the consensus was that was not so sweet.

Well, a few weeks ago I heard that Phoenix was making a regular appearance at Webster Hall tonight, and seeing as I think Consolation Prizes (their third album of new material) is one of the standout albums of the summer I decided to suck it up and check them out.

There were two interesting things to note about this show:

1) The band, especially lead singer Thomas Mars, hates lights.
2) They are way, way more rowdy and upbeat live than they are on their album.

Standing on the lift on the left side of Webster and despite the no lights thing, I could see the crowd - approximately 1,300 folks in all I think - eagerly throwing their hands up at their favorite songs. And the band - who probably weighed about 250 pounds *together* - was totally driving their excitement, asking for fans to bring "the loud."


But Consolation Prizes is not a loud album - it's melodic, and well composed, and catchy in the right ways - which is why I was pretty surprised to see the loud chords, heavy drums, and fired up fans jumping around. But I will say it was a pleasant surprise, and the peppering of "Mercis" throughout the concert endeared the band to me again. So despite the cig debacle, I'm back on board.

Visit www.wearephoenix.com for tour info, discography, etc.
www.myspace.com/wearephoenix for music