Phoenix and Passion Pit played two nights at Central Park’s SummerStage this past weekend. I went to Friday’s showand was blown away.
Going into the concert, I thought I was completely sick of PassionPit. Back in February, after seeing a show at DC indie-haunt Black Cat, I had quickly labeled them a one-trick-pony. Even by summer, the falsetto and whipping electronic synth were getting pretty tired. However, they did a fine job opening for Phoenix; they are a pony who performs his one trick well. Michael Angelakos, that high-pitched squealer, kept the crowd energized by bouncing around the stage like a three-year-old for the majority of the set. I don’t mean to sound (entirely) insulting – I think Passion Pit was a smart booking choice: they pack enough poppy enjoyment for about half an hour, then the audience will thirst for something more substantial. And for that, they were perfect – did what a good opening band should do: whet the appetite for the main course. Now, enter Phoenix.
(see: here for Passion Pit’s performance of “Sleepyhead” on Pitchfork’s Juan’s Basement)
The Frenchmen ran on stage to burst right into a strobe filled “Lisztomania” and never let the energy drop. And those strobes never really stopped either, yet not as an epileptic’s nightmare. They were perfectly employed during each song and made the entire crowd dance like lunatics (the frat-boy next to me ultimately took of his shirt and continually tried to stand on the shoulders of the strangers in front of him). The flow between each song (mostly off of Wolfgang, though a healthy mix of Alphabetical and United classics like “Run Run Run” – a personal fave – and “Too Young”) was perfect: blending from each in interesting and creative ways.
Banter was spare in between songs, with the occasional “merci beaucoup” from lead singer Thomas Mars, but he made up for the minimal speech with maximum engagement. He held attention whether he climbing the speakers as if to proclaim himself champion or jumping into the crowd as if to fully connect with the audience. But he was no hog of the spot light (literally). For one fully instrumental song, he lied down on stage out of view to nearly all, while another time Laurent Brancowitz and Christian Mazzalai, the two guitarists, had an intense one-on-one.
Even the encore was perfectly balanced, from the earnest Air-cover “Playground Love,” performed solely by brothers Thomas and Christian, to the high energy closer “1901.” The evening was a crowning success. I am sure it has been written in multiple reviews as “the perfect end to summer,” and maybe it’s the same thing, but to me, this concert was the perfect start to fall.
See “Lisztomania” from SummerStage below:
Christian Morrissey
