Phoenix Cover Air and Surf the Crowd in Chicago

Posted on Sep 24th 2009 10:00AM by Anna Deem
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Ordinarily, the big light show, seven-foot tall stage and 4,500-person capacity of Chicago's Aragon Ballroom is reserved for bands that are featured prominently on Top 40 radio or have been around for a considerable amount of time. Yet, when the gentlemen of Phoenix ran onstage to a sold-out crowd on Wednesday night, they looked right at home.

Sticking primarily to songs from their newest album, 'Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix,' the band ran through each song quickly, only stopping occasionally to acknowledge fans with a "Thank you." However, their gratitude clearly came across, especially from lead singer, Thomas Mars. "Thank you so much," he said, breathlessly speaking into the microphone in his French accent, after 'Armistice' ended. "This is still a mystery to us."

The crowd cheered and Phoenix played on, digging further back into their discography with songs like 'Consolation Prizes' from 2006's 'It's Never Been Like That' and 'Funky Squaredance' from their 2000 debut, 'United.' Perhaps one of the biggest highlights of the night came during the first song of the encore, when only Mars and guitarist Christian Mazzalai walked back out onto the stage together and tore into a stirring cover of Air's 'Playground Love.' As the song ended and Mars picked up his microphone on its stand and extended it out into the cheering crowd, the rest of the band walked back out onstage. Together, they woke the room up with the one-two punch of 'Too Young' and 'If I Ever Feel Better,' the latter of which had Mars climbing a large stack of speakers and serenading fans from his new perch.

Once he was firmly back down on the stage, the rest of the band launched into the last song of the night, '1901.' "Put your hands in the air, Chicago!" Mars yelled out, and the crowd certainly obeyed, cheering loudly and dancing. As the last notes of the song faded out, Mars decided to stretch the encore out a bit, as he climbed down off the stage and with the help of security, was hoisted over the barricade into the awaiting arms of fans. Crowd-surfing into the middle of the audience, Mars screamed "Thank you" over and over again into the microphone, as a writhing mass of people formed around him. Surfing his way back onto the stage, Phoenix finished out '1901' together and stood silently when it was over, basking in the overwhelming appreciation from fans. They may not be the most well-known band in the world, but Phoenix's new spot in the big leagues is truly well-deserved.