Phoenix leapt onto the American music scene in 2009 with Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix, an album that garnered the band their first Grammy Award and facilitated their meteoric rise. After a
While technically the calendar would have us believe that we had just entered into the fall months, heading to Central Park a few Fridays back to catch Phoenix at SummerStage would have had you believing otherwise, as the sold-out crowd was ready to bask in one of the last outdoor concerts of the season at the city’s most serene and picturesque venues.
For the Parisian band, 2009 has shaped up to be their breakout year which kicked off with a rare three-song performance on Saturday Night Live before their latest and critically acclaimed album Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix had even hit stores. Throw in a much buzzed about late-night set at Bonnaroo and sold out shows around the country, and they’ve made certain that they were no longer being referred to just as “that French band not called Air”.
[All Photos by Jeremy Gordon]
You could feel a genuine pulse in the energy of the crowd as the stage lights dimmed and Phoenix hit the stage igniting a huge roar of approval when the band jumped right into the bouncy opening piano chords of their seemingly ubiquitous single Lisztomania – causing people to do something you generally don’t see outside a jamband concert – dance.
READ ON for more of Jeff’s thoughts and Jeremy’s photos on Phoenix…
