Phoenix rising...

French pop sensation Phoenix, still touring hard on the heels of 2009's 'Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix', brought their show to the Santa Barbara County Bowl on Sunday night. This came the night after, what August Brown in the LA Times termed, 'a career making performance' at the Hollywood Bowl. Their outdoor stage appearance at Coachella this year drew an overflow crowd that I couldn't penetrate, but left an impression, and on their own at 'our' Bowl, they did not disappoint.

They hit the stage to a rousing take of 'Wolfgang's' opener, "Lisztomania" (above), and never looked back.

The band did a great job of translating a particularly detailed album to the jet thrust umph that an arena level show demands, without sacrificing the danceability and deadening the sound, as seems to happen all too frequently.
No elaborate production for this unit, a standard light show, and the odd full sized curtain were simple and well deployed.







Below is mid set crowd burner "Girlfriend"...

As a present to fans as they wind down their U.S. tour, the band announced that they are giving away the multi.track masters free for all your remix needs!

Not to be forgotten were tonight's opener: Neon Indian, who overcame the sparse early arrivals, (this of course being Santa Barbara), and a spotty sound mix that never seemed to gel until near the end of their set, to win over the crowd.

Interestingly enough, this was my first trip to the County Bowl this season, and I would be remiss if I didn't note, for those who haven't had the pleasure, that this is one of the finest facilities of it's size in the country, and always takes on a special tinge of magic at sunset...