Phoenix deliver beaucoup Entertainment at The Independent in SF

Photos by Chaya Frash

Those lucky enough to score tickets to the ultra-intimate Phoenix show at The Independent Monday night witnessed something special. Only announced last Thursday, the festival-headlining group did not hold back for this last-minute surprise, and the devoted that showed up with the desperate hope of finding a face value miracle profited off a late ticket rerelease.

This was only the fourth live performance in support of Phoenix’s upcoming album Bankrupt!, which drops April 23, and the evening’s setlist featured nine of ten tracks from the record. Hearing the Bankrupt! cuts live made the songs come alive, particularly in the middle section of the set from “Trying To Be Cool” to “The Real Thing.” This incredible performance also included most of the songs from Wolfgang Amadeus, but was light on earlier material.

Thomas Mars and the rest of the group didn’t act as if they were playing a semi-private show in an intimate space, even though the crowd energy early on was shockingly muted at times. But the one-two punch of “Armistice” & “1901” had everyone jumping by the end of the set, and Mars had trekked across the room and stood up one the rail near the merchandise booth, then crowd surfed back to the stage, capping off one of the best sets in recent memory.

This was the kind of show Phoenix put on before their breakout success in 2009; it looked like the French foursome deferred to the house lights at The Independent, and this must be one of the smallest spaces Phoenix has played since the mid-2000s.

Mars and guitarist Christian Mazzalai began the encore with an acoustic version of “Countdown,” then played a beautiful cover of Air’s “Playground Love.” Both songs inspired pin-drop silence til the last note.

The two most transcendent moments of the night involved new songs. “Drakkar Noir” and “Chloroform” are two new tracks that work remarkably well together. Once “Drakkar Noir” bridges into the downtempo beats of “Chloroform,” which melds synth layers and humming bass bombs, you can’t help but get sucked in to Phoenix’s world of sound.

Another blissful combination is “Bankrupt!” and “Love Like a Sunset I and II,” now called “Sunskrupt!” This heady live combo begins with “Love Like a Sunset I,” segues seamlessly into “Bankrupt!” and finishes with “Love Like a Sunset II.” Both songs are experimental and instrumental in nature, and it’s a genius touch to combine them live.

Phoenix is just getting started on this tour, and they are a must see live act now more than ever.

Setlist:
Entertainment
Lisztomania
Lasso
Long Distance Call
SOS in Bel Air
Girlfriend
Trying To Be Cool
Drakkar Noir
Chloroform
The Real Thing
Sunskrupt! (Love Like A Sunset + Bankrupt!)
Fences
Oblique City
Don’t
Armistice
1901