Recap Phoenix at Park West

Much of the thrill in live music is what you didn't come to see: the unexpected way songs sound live and the way they bleed into one another. Last month's Camera Obscura show at the Metro suffered for this reason: The band pounded its way through songs from its new My Maudlin Career, sprinkled in some older material, and ended each standard replay with a polite "Thank you." But that's not how French band Phoenix rolled on Saturday at Park West. Take "Lisztomania," from its latest, Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix, which opened the show: The band took the head-bopping rock song's simple two-notes-on-repeat intro, drove it through a soaring rendition, let the notes settle towards conclusion, paused, and then hit the highs again harder than before. Just about every song on the setlist—which played to the band's more recent songwriting strengths—enjoyed this extended outro treatment. At the end of the show, new single "1901" abruptly ended, the bandmembers ditched their instruments, and singer Thomas Mars breathed a show-ending sigh. But then the bandmembers returned to the microphones, threw their axes back over their shoulders, and kicked the song back on—while Mars delivered his final lines from the middle of a packed house. The surprises came in the song choices, too, including a mid-show rendition of the largely instrumental "Love Like A Sunset." This was a band that knew how to pace a show and wasn't afraid of a little pause.

Just as important: The members of Phoenix looked like they were genuinely having a good time—and the audience felt it. When I spoke to Black Kids' Reggie Youngblood, he mentioned that the band received praised on music blogs for its live shows. But their show opening for Mates Of State earlier this year proved that it's possible to play dancepop and look disinterested at the same time. The band members barely looked at each other, let alone at the audience, and their subdued stage presence sucked all the energy out of the room. The members of Phoenix, on the other hand, seemed like they were having the time of their lives. Guitarist Christian Mazzalai knocked out the short solo on "Lasso" while flailing his arms around; Mars regularly swung the microphone in his hands like a baseball bat, knocking down the stand a few times; the touring drummer somehow used his entire body to aid his pounds. It was visually impressive—and he's not even a core member of the band.

The Park West and Phoenix were an excellent fit, too. The Civic Opera House perfectly suited Andrew Bird earlier this year, with the airtight acoustics adding more depth to Bird's already rich, layered sound. Ben Folds at the Congress last year? Not the best choice; Folds is meticulous about his piano compositions, but the echo-y room left him sounding particularly empty. Park West complemented Phoenix's care for individual notes—the lingering chord that opens "Rome" held up perfectly, as did the transition from the one-note "Napoleon Says" verse into the string-heavy chorus. It was sometimes tough to hear important lyrics or guitar lines when everyone was playing at once—"Rally" lost some of its upbeat riffs to the cacophony of the band—but the crowd didn't seem to mind. The venue's center-focused speakers hit the rows of booths and chairs over and over, until just about everyone—okay, mostly girls who looked to be in their mid-30s—shot up out of their seats and started dancing. (One woman near the center threw her arms up, closed her eyes, and swayed to-and-fro during the pre-show music. She did not stop.) After closing out the "1901" reprise, the band was greeted with a standing ovation—and the rare, wholly earned one, at that.