Phoenix, Mac DeMarco @ the Paramount
We had a pretty awesome experience thanks to a Phoenix promotion with a local record store, Silver Platters. By being one of the first 25 to pre-order Phoenix's new album, we were part of a small group to sit in on the Phoenix sound check. It was great, but before I get into the details, here's a little bit about about the opener, Mac DeMarco.
Mac got points right away for wearing an old-school Mariners hat. He's from B.C. so I guess that makes sense.
Overall the three members of Mac DeMarco put on pretty good show for an opening set. I was most looking forward to Freaking Out the Neighborhood, and the band didn't disappoint. It sounded good live and it seemed to be one of the fan favorites. However, there was an odd moment right before the song where Mac tried to dedicate it to Kurt Cobain. Unfortunately, it just came out weird. I think his intentions were good, but it got a mixed reaction from the crowd with sparse boos and cheers.
Freaking Out the Neighborhood was followed by My Kind of Woman which was played with much more energy than the recorded version. It sounded great and was the best song of the set for me.
They ended the set with two Danzig covers (I think that's who they said they were covering). It came across as a very weird way to end the set. They have enough material to skip covers, and it was especially strange to have them perform two.
Song of the Set: My Kind of Woman
As I mentioned at the start of the post, we were extremely lucky and got a chance to watch the Phoenix sound check. It was a great experience, the band was super nice, and it was interesting to see how a veteran band set-up and prepared for a show.
Phoenix had just started their sound check when we got there, and they were in the middle of a new song while we were walking in. I was surprised that they were playing through entire songs, not just portions of them. All of the songs they were playing were new ones, so it was my first time hearing any of them other than Entertainment. Of the new songs they played, one really stuck out, and not just because they played it three times during the sound check. The chorus repeats, “tell me that you want me,” and I would guess the title will be something similar. It had a great beat, catchy hook, and I’m definitely looking forward to hearing it on the new record.
They did take one request from the crowd. The 20-or-so of us in attendance shouted out all sorts of songs (with someone even requesting Funky Squaredance). It was 1901 that won out, so we ended up getting our own private performance of 1901, which they have really perfected live. It sounded great.
We all cheered after each song, even after they replayed just the first half of Entertainment. They seemed to appreciate the support, which probably caught them off guard during a sound check.
After the band was finished they jumped down into the audience and start talking with us. They all wandered through the small crowd to make sure they talked to everyone, and of course they posed for a few photo ops (you’ll see our picture with a couple of the band members, including Thomas Mars, below). The band talked about a lot of things including how much they enjoyed a small antique shop they found in Seattle, how great the weather is every time they come, and how the audience jumped up on stage in Vancouver a few nights before.
It was a really cool experience, especially for us, since we had a chance to meet them after their 2006 show in Phoenix, AZ as well.
Song of the Sound Check: Tell Me That You Want Me
Phoenix [Main Concert Set]
After getting to meet the band perform their sound check, I don't think they could have done anything to disappoint me. However, I was surprised that they didn't play anything from their first two albums, United and Alphabetical, during their set. My two favorite Phoenix songs are Too Young and If I Ever Feel Better, so I was a little bummed that I didn't get to hear either. They also only played a couple songs from Its Never Been Like That.
The focus of the show was squarely on new music, both Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix and the new unreleased album. In fact, they may have played through their entire new album during the set. That part was very cool, and there are a few songs that sounded really good. The one I'm most looking forward to is still Tell Me That You Want Me, because it sounded even better fourth time.
The crowd cheered most following Listomania and 1901, both of which sounded sharper than the new material. Listomania was played early in the set and 1901 came at the end.
Just like he did back in 2006, Thomas Mars laid down on-stage during the instrumental North. However this time they took the song to a whole other level and morphed it into Love Like a Sunset by the end.
The encore started with just the lead singer and lead guitar coming onstage to play a striped down version of Girlfriend. The rest of the band then came out to play a couple more songs.
Even though they avoided their back catalog, Phoenix still put on a really good show, and I'll be looking forward to seeing them again sometime in the future.
