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Archive for the ‘Phoenix’ Category

Beck (The Mann Center for the Performing Arts, Philadelphia, PA, September 8, 2023)

Posted in Beck, Mann Center for the Performing Arts, Philadelphia, PA, Phoenix, Sir Chloe, Weyes Blood on September 10, 2023| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: September 8, 2023] Beck

My wife and I have seen Beck three times now and his shows are always fun.

It’s interesting that his shows tend to be pretty short–he does a lot of co-headlining tours.   He also doesn’t tour that often–3 tours in 9 years.

Beck has put out a couple of albums in the last decade or so, but he didn’t play anything from his most recent album (Hyperspace) or the mellow Morning Phase.  And only one song from Colors.

The show focuses a lot on Modern Guilt and Odelay–he told us that this was the first tour that the Odelay band had played together since that album: guitarist Jason Falkner (who played on the last tour andwas amazing), bassist Justin Meldal-Johnsen and drummer Joey Waronker (were both new to me). On the top row was longtime keyboardist Roger Joseph Manning, Jr. and percussionist Ian Longwell (new to me and excellent).

The set was a mix of big hits and some weird older cuts.  This being the third time we’ve seen him, this show was almost like a mashup of the last two tours.

Like the first time we saw him, he opened with Devil’s Haircut followed soon after with The New Pollution.  Notable was that bassist Meldal-Johnsen was a maniac, adding in all the weird backing vocals and deep growls.  He also bounced around and was having a great old time.

On the way home I told my wife that I was so happy for her because he played just about everything she wanted to hear–not always the case with concerts. (more…)

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Phoenix (The Mann Center for the Performing Arts, Philadelphia, PA, September 8, 2023) [BECK]

Posted in Beck, Mann Center for the Performing Arts, Philadelphia, PA, Phoenix, Sir Chloe, Weyes Blood on September 9, 2023| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: September 8, 2023] Phoenix

Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix is a fantastic album–wonderful French synth pop with insanely catchy choruses.

When they were announced as  co-headliner with Beck, I was pretty excited to check them out.  I didn’t know anything about their live show, but I figured I’d know a bunch of songs.

We arrived at the Mann Center and got to our seats about three minutes before Phoenix came on.  And what timing because they opened with the amazingly catchy “Lisztomania” which got everyone on their feet and singing along.  This pairing seemed to work really well as it felt like people were there for both bands and not just one or the other.

The stage was set up like a frame.  And as soon as the song kicked in, the frame was revealed to be a digital screen.  And Phoenix had a ton of fun with this setup.  Each song had a video or a scene behind it.  And most of them looked completely realistic.

So the band was playing in an opulent room, or on a classical ruin or a deserted wasteland.  Or, there were optical illusions floating around behind them.  It was amazing.  And it looked incredible.

I was also surprised at how many songs I didn’t know.  I just assumed it would be hit after hit.  And maybe it was an I just don’t know the hits.  But they played three songs from their debut album United which I had never heard of.

The band was set up so that on the ground level there were four of them: Thomas Mars – lead vocals ; Deck d’Arcy – bass, keyboards ; Laurent Brancowitz – lead guitar, keyboards ; Christian Mazzalai – guitar.  Granted I’m not sure who was who–I don’t think I’ve ever even seen a picture of them before.  On the upper level were the two touring musicians: Robin Coudert – keyboards, percussion ; Thomas Hedlund – drums.  These two were amazing to watch, especially Hedlund who was an absolute maniac on the drums.  In fact, I tend to think of Phoenix’s music as being not all that interesting drumwise–it’s pretty standard beat-keeping for the drums.  But Hedlund was great–fills, standing up and crashing the drums.  And when Coudert played snare along with him it was so loud!

They did an amazing job of mixing up the setlist.  With several songs from Wolfgang up front including in a mashup with a United song, Too Young/Girlfriend.

Phoenix has a new album out with some great songs on it, and they waited before playing them.  It took five songs to bust out “Alpha Zulu” Ooh ha, saying Hallelujah!   Followed soon after by “After Midnight.”  Then they moved on to “Armistice” (yet another song from Wolfgang).  The slow repetitive middle was a perfect lead in to the following song which I understand is a Phoenix live favorite

It is known as “Sunskrupt” and it’s a mashup of “Love Like a Sunset” from WAP and “Bankrupt” from Bankrupt.  The video behind them was incredible.  It started with a man lying on a grassy spot.  The camera then zoomed out and the distance was listed on the side (10,000 meters, 100,000 meters). It continued to pull back, into outer space, through the milky way to over a million light years away.  The the song hit a climax and the song picked up with the camera zooming back in, all the way to the man again and then closer and closer–.o1 millimeter down to millionths of an ångstrom, where I’m assuming we could see a red blood cell?  It was amazing.

Someone had been holding up a sign for “Funky Squaredance,” an early song that I didn’t know.  Well, they played a medley of that with another early song.  On stage came a personification of death who Mars sang to.  When the song ended, death was holding his head! Crazy

They played the super catchy “Tonight” from the new album and then one more new song before playing another medley from Bankrupt and then getting the entire crowd psyched for a terrific sing along of “1901.”

It was fantastic.

And just when we thought the show was over, the band started playing an instrumental (Identical) and Thomas Mars headed out to the audience.  I assumed he would stop before he got to us, but he climbed over the seat back, literally right next to my wife (we were both too surprised to get any good pictures).  Then he climbed all the way to the back of the seated area and walked around up there until he came back down the other side and then climbed on some people’s shoulders in the main front area.

What a show.  I can’t imagine the stops they pull out of they are the headliners!

 

  1. Lisztomania ψ
  2. Entertainment $
  3. Lasso ψ
  4. Too Young µ / Girlfriend ψ
  5. Alpha Zulu @
  6. Ti Amo ♥
  7. After Midnight @
  8. Armistice ψ
  9. Sunskrupt! **
  10. If I Ever Feel Better µ / Funky Squaredance µ
  11. Tonight @
  12. Winter Solstice @
  13. Rome ψ
  14. Trying to Be Cool $ /Drakkar Noir $
  15. 1901 ψ
  16. Identical (reprise) @

ψ Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix (2009)
µ United (2004)
@ Alpha Zulu (2022)
$ Bankrupt! (2013)
♥ Ti Amo (2017)
** Mashup of “Bankrupt” and “Love Like a Sunset”

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Weyes Blood / Sir Chloe (The Mann Center for the Performing Arts, Philadelphia, PA, September 8, 2023) [BECK / PHOENIX] [DID NOT ATTEND-missed them both]

Posted in Beck, Mann Center for the Performing Arts, Philadelphia, PA, Phoenix, Sir Chloe, Weyes Blood on September 8, 2023| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: September 8, 2023] Weyes Blood / Sir Chloe

When this show was announced, I was really excited for it.  Beck always puts on a good show and Phoenix have some really fantastic songs.

I saw that our opening acts were going to be Weyes Blood, whom I heard put on a great live show and Sir Chloe, who I knew a little bit.

Well, it turns out that this show was scheduled to start at 5:30.  On a Friday.  In Philadelphia.

So, yea, there was no way were going to see Sir Chloe.

And then the forecast was so ugly!  Thunderstorms near us and in Philly.  The Mann Center closes or postpones if there is lightning.  So we weren’t even sure if we were going to go at all.

I was pretty sure we would not see Weyes Blood either, but by the time we left (and made sure that we weren’t going to drive all the way there and then find out it was cancelled), I realized we would be lucky to make the beginning of the Phoenix show.

I like to blame the Mann Center for any delays when I go to shows there. But there was no fault of theirs tonight.  Parking was even (relatively) easy and unlike at Phish shows, the line to get in wasn’t very long at all.  In fact, no complaints about the Mann in any way.  It has made me rethink my overall desire to not go there for shows.  Maybe I just need to go to less popular shows. (more…)

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Alessandro Baricco–An Iliad (2004) [translated 2006]

Posted in Alessandro Baricco, Ann Goldstein, Homer, KEXP 90.3 FM--Seattle, WA, Myths, Phoenix, Sex, Short Books, Suicide, Supernatural, The Guardian, The New York Times, Translation, Violence, War on September 13, 2012| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: PHOENIX in Studio at KEXP (2009).

For this in-studio  performance, two members of Phoenix showed up to play a stripped down acoustic performance.

They play four songs (and all of the songs are quite short, as well).  Three songs from Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix (“Listzomania” “1901” and “Armistice”) and a cover of Air’s “Playground Love.”  Given how different Phoenix and Air sound (even if they are both French), it’ an impressive change of style for the set.

This stripped down version really shows what a great voice the singer has.  And these songs, while not quite as catchy as the originals, still sound fantastic.  There’s also a brief chat with the DJ about their then recent appearance on Saturday Night Live.

If you like Phoenix, this is a great show to download.

[READ: September 1, 2012]  An Iliad

Since I really enjoyed the two Baricco stories that I’ve read so far, I decided to try something else from him. An Iliad is a fascinating book from conception to execution.

Baricco wanted to read Homer’s Iliad aloud on the radio.  But when he investigated the project further he found that a) it was way too long and b) it wasn’t really well suited to contemporary audiences.  So (and he gives details about exactly how he modified it), he decided to remove sections of the original, restructure it and try to give it a more contemporary feel.

But he also tried to keep as much of the original as he could.  So, rather than rewriting the book, he worked with a prose translation (poetry being way too convoluted for his project) and used his  translation of that translation  (which for us gets further translated into English, yipes, although the translation is again a very good job by Ann Goldstein) to create his Iliad.  One of the major excisions he did for the book was to remove all of the sections with the gods.  They are alluded to, but he removed the gods (and all supernatural aspects) from the book reasoning that the mortals reference what the gods say and do so anyway, so he simply took away the duplication.  Plus, the gods aren’t really relevant to contemporary listeners. (more…)

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Jonathan Franzen–“My Bird Problem” (New Yorker, August 8 & 15, 2005)

Posted in "Weird Al" Yankovic, All Songs Considered, Birds, Death, Essays, Jonathan Franzen, Marriage Trouble, New Yorker, Phoenix, Public Image Ltd, Radiohead, Sharon Van Etten, Superchunk, The New Pornographers, Tom Waits, Unlikable main character on December 16, 2010| 1 Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: NPR Live Concerts from All Songs Considered (Podcasts).

For a couple of months now I have been exploring the All Songs Considered Podcasts.  I recently stumbled upon a link to a whole slew of Live Recordings that are available for free.  All of them are available for listening and most of them are available for downloading.

Some of the recordings seem to be acoustic in-studio sessions that last about 15 minutes (called the Tiny Desk Concerts), but there are many which are full concerts recorded from the soundboard.  I happened upon this site because of a 2008 Radiohead show which runs just over 2 hours.  Some other full concerts (most of which are recorded at the 9:30 club in Washington D.C. include: Superchunk, Dinosaur Jr., New Pornographers, Public Image Ltd., Tom Waits, and a whole bunch of shows from SXSW.  The Tiny Desk shows include “Weird Al” Yankovic, Phoenix and my new discovery Sharon Van Etten.  And there’s even videos of many of the shows, too.

I’m pretty excited to have discovered this, as there are a surprising number of great shows available here (as I’m scrolling to the bottom of the list, I keep finding more and more bands that I like).  And all you need is to download iTunes to hear them (and if you’re a geek like me, you download Audacity and insert track numbers for ease of cataloging).

[READ: November 21, 2010] “My Bird Problem”

Of all of the Franzen non-fiction pieces that I’ve read, this one has been my least favorite.  And one of the reasons for that is that it made me feel kind of uncomfortable.   Not because of the main content of the article (bird watching) but because of some of the personal information that he (as per usual) included in the article.

The first uncomfortable part concerns his at-the-time-wife.  It feels the like he is including information that seems like he would have needed her permission to write (especially since we know who he is and therefore know who she is,  I can’t believe she would give it).

The second thing was just how misanthropic Franzen is.  When he goes out into the woods to look for birds, he finds that the mere awareness of other people sends him into a fury.  (“Oh no, were those human voices coming up behind us?”).  And while I’ve certainly felt like that, to see it in print and to see it so often is more than a little unsettling. (more…)

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Sam Lipsyte–”The Dungeon Master” (New Yorker, October 4, 2010)

Posted in Air, Daft Punk, Dungeons & Dragons, Humiliation, New Yorker, Phoenix, Sam Lipsyte, Set in New Jersey!, Violence on December 11, 2010| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: PHOENIX–Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix (2009).

It will soon be unsurprising to say that a great album has come from a French band (no offense to the French, but you never used to hear cool music coming from there).  Then we had Air and Daft Punk and now Phoenix.

The first single and leadoff track, the preposterously catchy “Lisztomania” features guitars and keyboards (just so we know they’re not another techno band).  It has a simple but infectious riff as it opens , and it never lets up in catchiness.  “1901” has a chorus that ends with some ayayayayayays that I dare you not to sing along with.

“Fences” has a pretty classic disco feel to it.  It’s followed by “Love Like a Sunset.” Part 1 is a five-minute atmospheric instrumental, and Part 2 follows along similarly.

“Lasso” follows with some more simple background keyboards topped with grinding guitars.  Like “Countdown,” it’s simple and hard not to like.  “Girlfriend” opens with great swaths of keyboards and lots of repeated words in the verses and chorus, making for yet another great single.   In fact, all of the songs are super catchy.

Despite the simplicity of the melodies, the songs are always interesting.  And that’s hard to beat.  There’s no surprise that this album was on many lists as one of the best of 2009.

[READ: October 28, 2010] “The Dungeon Master”

Reading this short story reminded me that I really want to read Lipsyte’s new book The Ask, which is supposed to be very good indeed.

The title of the story immediately made me think it would be about Dungeons & Dragons, and I was pleased to see that it was.   The story concerns a group of boys who have their own D&D club after school (as opposed to the school sanctioned D&D club).  Their game meets at the Dungeon Master’s house and there is no, repeat, no touching of the DM’s manual.

We quickly learn that the DM is a sadistic bastard.  He has killed off his younger brother’s character at least 30 times (and the brother keeps making a new character in his place: Valentine the 19th, Valentine the 20th etc).  But unlike in real D&D where you die from ogres and dragons, Valentine has died from, for instance, rectal cancer (how do you roll for that?).

There’s a lot of speculation about just how crazy their DM really is (rumors abound: he flashes some girls at the ice rink, he set his own feces on fire).  And, of course there’s talk that he spent some time in Bergen Pines.  And just where is his mother anyway? (more…)

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