Another look: Phoenix says Manila was their second favorite crowd

Rolling Stone magazine described the French band Phoenix as “hot girl music,” something bassist/keyboardist Deck d’Arcy in our Yahoo interview didn’t quite understand.

But if he had stepped out and seen the long lines of concertgoers patiently waiting to get into the World Trade Center for the band’s sold-out Manila gig on January 21, d’Arcy would probably have understood what Rolling Stone meant.

The female-to-male ratio of those who attended the show was probably 30:1. And yes, most of the girls were hot.

Breaking the ice

During their press con in the Diamond Hotel the day before, the band, despite their admitted self-consciousness in speaking English (resulting in Thomas Mars’s quirky lyrics), was highly articulate.

The press con began with a fashion-related question from Yahoo’s resident Phoenix mega-fan and Style Factor media producer Beverly Dalton.

The band, either exhausted or expecting the usual “Welcome to our country!” preamble, looked at each other in puzzlement.

No low points during the show

“That’s a very good question!“ responded guitarist/keyboardist Laurent Brancowitz (he and Mars would eventually answer most of the questions with guitarist Christian Mazzalai chipping in occasionally; d’Arcy kept quiet).

“We like the fashion from all decades, 60s, 80s, 90s…except the 70s. We hate it.”

If there was any icy tension then, it thawed quickly and the band remained charming for the next hour.

At the World Trade Center, there was never a low point during their entire performance—beginning with a rousing “Entertainment,” quickly followed with the one-two punch of “Lasso” and “Lisztomania.” And, based on the audience reaction, they could do no wrong.

Power and charisma

On record, the band is described as “synth pop” and “new wave” but live, Phoenix sounds more in-your-face, thanks to drummer Thomas Hedlund’s powerful grooves. Mars, he with the lanky frame and youthful vocals, exudes charisma. There were sequencer flourishes that reminded me of Pink Floyd’s “On the Run” or the French rock band M83.

The massive LED backdrop dwarfed the band and the silhouette effect one color blocked pattern achieved reminded me of Daft Punk’s video for “Get Lucky.” (Or maybe it’s just me making the connection since they share history and friendship with DP).

The set list for the evening included songs that represented all their albums. The bulk, though, was divided equally between their biggest album yet, “Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix,” and their latest, “Bankrupt!”

Blasts of confetti

Even if the World Trade Center’s acoustics are generally troublesome (but, to be frank, very few local venues have decent acoustics, anyway), the band sounded crisp and clear, with every nuance captured clearly, even above the screams of the audience.

A detailed sonic experience for the audience—curiously overlooked or taken for granted by venue designers—is critical, and Phoenix and their sound crew managed to make every song sound like a familiar hit. No need to rely on memory to fill in murky details; you heard everything.

The main set ended with “1901,” but the band returned with a three-song encore and a reprise of “Entertainment,” with Thomas Mars famously making his way from the stage through the VIP section to the barricaded crowd farther away and then being showered by huge confetti blasts on his way back.

Phoenix wants to return to Manila

The crowd was ecstatic. And apparently, Phoenix loved Manila right back.

“The band was really surprised with the turnout of the concert. They didn’t expect that they would be that big here in the Philippines,” promoters Karpos Multimedia told Yahoo.

“They said that Manila was their second favorite crowd next to Mexico and they definitely want to come back for a second show.”

It’s too early to tell if this is the best live foreign act of the year. But it is safe to say that Phoenix has already set the bar quite high.