Perfect tunes, brilliant showmanship and mass bopping in the John Peel tent: the sun may have set, but the Phoenix has risen
Who
PhoenixWhere and when
John Peel stage, 22.15Dress code
Jeans, shirts, natty summer jackets that may have been tailored linen – with the merest hint of cowboy. It's possible Thomas Mars double denimed there.What happened
Phoenix are riding high. In a year that has seen their third studio album take gold they've squared up to Coachella, Glastonbury and a tour that doesn't end until November this year in Dusseldorf. The band could be forgiven for expecting a warm welcome. But here in the John Peel tent, the atmosphere is frosty; the sun has set, there's a damp chill in the air. Pinched faces turn towards the stage as if to an empty hearth.We don't have long to wait. A flash of strobe light, thunderous bass, all is transformed. A synth riff sweeps upwards into a shimmering electronic squall. Suddenly we're all heat and motion, caught in an updraft of euphoric noise, thumping bass: sunlight dancing on waves. "Tell me that you want me," croons the floppy-haired, concave-bellied Mars. The crowd belch an audible sigh.
The was an impressive amount of stagecraft going on: at one point, Mars lay down on the stage floor, the bass ramped up to tooth-rattling levels, bemusement swept the crowd. Then the tension was broken by an infectiously funky beat, and mass bopping ensued.
Who was watching
A roughly thirtysomething, urbane crowd. A few chiselled cheekbones on display, some hats, mostly tipped to a gallic angle. Glow sticks. All, and I mean every single, right arm was raised in the air.High point
Mars crowd-surfing to a tent pole in the middle of the throng, clambering up it and yelling something indistinguishable before surfing effortlessly back to the stage.Low point
Not enough of the boppy 80s numbers – Too Young, If I Ever Feel Better – and rather too much of their later, experimental work. It could have felt a bit inaccessible, if their tunes and showmanship weren't so perfectly brilliant.In a tweet
The sun may have set, but the Phoenix has risen. And lo, everybody got down.
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by Anna Bruce-Lockhart via Music: Electronic music | guardian.co.uk
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