Phoenix @ CEPSUM

Imagine the greatest of ironies: a French rock group from Versailles travels across the ocean to the most populous French city in North America, gets booked at a French-language University by French promotion, and plays their American Grammy-winning album to a sold-out majority-French crowd…in English. Such a paradox might confuse objective observers, but for montrealers, it is the music scene. And it is exactly what took place on October 21st, 2010 at the Complexe Sportif de l'Université de Montréal.

Phoenix, the ever-popular group currently transcending the indie paradigm, made their most northern stop on their five-continent world tour in Montréal. The show was more crowded than usual for Phoenix, most likely due to their increasing cultural status and spots on late-night TV, commercials, movie soundtracks, and their Grammy win in January of this year. The group’s pulsating popularity put them in their prime, providing the perfect pretext for a powerfulperformance, quintessentially delivered that Thursday night.

After having pumped the crowd with a well-received set, Canadian opener Tokyo Police Club yielded the stage to Phoenix, representing a symbolic transition between two indie ambassadors from different generations. The first song punched out was "Lisztomania," a favorite of any Entourage addict or Rock Band enthusiast with taste. The Red Bull-injected crowd mumbled the words as best as possible under the conditions, especially considering the North Pole temperature setting and the resulting involuntary huddling at the expense of personal space. The stadium setting allowed for the sound to permeate through the crowd quite easily, each beat resonating through connected joints and elbows. Frontman Thomas Mars (lucky mate of acclaimed filmmaker Sofia Coppola) held the vigor of the crowd, through both his mannerisms and youthful style. This youthful influence seems to be quite dominating throughout their latest album Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix, a quality transcribed directly to the show that evening.

What most concertgoers seemed to recognize Phoenix that night is that they were entirely consistent. Consistent in delivery, beat, rhythm, and energy. Their songs flowed together in a manner that wasn’t too erratic for the eardrums and equally cadenced for moving feet. Though the grand majority of the songs sounded relatively similar, the crowd proved engaged and engrossed. With the devoted beat in the background, the true star of the evening proved to be the amazing lighting. Normally not the highlight of the show, it is remarkably true that the production team of the Phoenix troupe deserves a big award of their own. Red, white, orange and other colours in a star shape were on unapologetic display at all times during the show. The intense rainbow prism fulfilled the sight senses of everyone in the crowd, immediately making the live show the preferred alternative to albums, mp3s, and headphones.

The instrumentally-heavy "Love Like a Sunset" was played almost entirely in darkness, engulfing the crowd in a heavy trance that prepared them for the emotional ballad "Countdown (Sick For the Big Sun)" that revived the intense lighting and vocals by Thomas Mars. The next tune, "Rome," was performed as an exemplary Phoenix hit, displaying the great talent that has been carried on SNL, the Late Show, and in the soundtracks of CSI, Cougar Town, Vampire Diaries, Royal Pains and much more. This mainstream attraction is easily justified considering that every Phoenix song has a special “soundtrack-like” attachment, begging to be used as a backdrop for a scene of an enthusiastic high school geek getting his first date or young moon-bound lovers off to elope in the city.

Showing that Phoenix is polyglot in every sense, Mars broke the English-heavy setlist to cover Johnny Hallyday’s "La Fille Aux Cheveux Clairs," instantly recognizable to the Montréalais and Parisiens in attendance. It was sung by Mars from the middle of the stadium, surrounded on all sides by concertgoers with iPhones, Blackberries, Nokias, Androids and digital cameras, eager to post this sweet French melody on Youtube, Tumblr, Twitter, or to receive the well-coveted Like from their friends on Facebook. The last song played for the encore was their biggest hit, "1901". This recognizable tune united the show goers beautifully, pushing the propelling performance to the brink of a perfectly played payoff.

If a theme is to be derived from this review of the show, it is that Phoenix is entirely culturally relevant. They represent the current evolving indie music scene and the dominate sound that is played both on stations like CJLO and mainstream Billboard Hot 200. Their show in Montréal headlined their talents and relevance, unabashedly. If there is ever a time to follow a band in their prime, it is now and it is Phoenix.