Went to the Phoenix/Passion Pit show in NYC in central park at the summerstage. Passion Pit opened. I love them so dearly. I saw them earlier this summer in DC at the black cat--the harlem shakes opened the show. Gotta say they were way better in DC. Maybe it was due to the fact that most of the audience was unfamiliar with them [whereas I was twirling in circles and screaming/singing at the top of my lungs like an idiot]. the vibe just wasn't right. I was one of a handful of people who knew any lyrics to any of the songs. nobody else even made that "oh this song sounds familiar" head nod. Tre sad.
It also may have been the fact that the show was at an outdoors venue. The sound was a bit off. The only other explanation [and maybe the most logical] is that the guys gravitated towards a softer, less electronica/dance music vibe. which bummed me out completely because i just wanted to get my groove on.
Overall, i love passion pit. they could have [and i've seen it] been better.
Phoenix, however, was incredible. they really delivered. I went on the second night and the park was just packed. it was insanity. everyone there was a true phoenix fan because anywhere you looked was a new face belting out the same lines.
The band had loads of energy and they sounded exactly like they do on their records [which is always nice to hear]. They opened with my FAVORITE song [or at least top 5] of theirs, lisztomania. it was pretty much epic.
The set was a little over an hour and a half, which is surprisingly long for a show like this. but i guess it makes sense. these guys have been around for quite some time so they have lots of material to keep the fans happy.
Thomas Mars, the singer, was brilliant. constantly dancing around the stage, engaging the audience in the show. he even went into the audience [shockingly deep in comparison to a lot of the superficial, show attempts by other artists] for a good solid minute.
The guys are all super nice and humble. They're all family dudes. I had backstage/trailer access thanks to a very good friend of mine and it was really sweet to see them with their tots, backstage eating vegetable sticks and chips as opposed to the typical sex, drugs, and rock & roll scene normally witnessed backstage at these events.
Passion pit will be back in NYC on January 8th, at Terminal 5. I recommend going to the show if you haven't seen them. They are a very good live show [particularly indoors].
Phoenix, unfortunately is heading back to Europe for a while. Hopefully they'll be back in the near future.
