Phoenix – O2 AcademyBrixton , London 05/02/14

When it comes to that infamous, time-old British-French rivalry, Phoenix is never included. On the contrary, the Parisian pop outfit hold a hero-like status in the UK, and last September a Roundhouse-worth of fans were left dismayed when the band announced that vocalist Thomas Mars was too ill to play their iTunes Festival slot. When a February UK tour was announced, then, it was unsurprising that both the original London date and the specially added show tonight at Brixton’s 02 Academy were sell out shows.

As a blaze of neon red light covered the Academy’s well-known Corinthian columns and classical decor, several silhouetted figures strutted on stage. Accompanied by a 90s style MPD hip-hop beat -not unlike their 2004 “Congratulations Revisited” that is almost drowned out by cheers, Phoenix enter in their effortlessly cool manner. The beat is soon cut out and replaced by the oriental intro of “Entertainment”; its opening lyrics, “headline from this day on”, fittingly commence what we’ve all been waiting for, and Thomas Hedlund’s fast and heavy drumming style drives the band and maintains the crowd’s spirited enthusiasm.

Save the occasional “Brixton!” from Mars, conversation is kept to a minimum as the band speed through hits from their older catalogue, such as the warmly-welcomed “Lasso” and “Lizstomania” from Grammy-winning Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix. The band seem to be having a lot of fun: Mars is in and out of the crowd like there’s no tomorrow, and guitarist Christian Mazzalai is evidently enjoying the bluesy and sludgier rendition of “Run Run Run”, which adds some variety to a set that is mainly made up of songs from Wolfgang and Bankrupt! in equal measure. Indeed, the two albums collide in the form of “Sunskrupt!”, an amalgamation of both parts of “Love Like a Sunset” from the former and the eponymous “Bankrupt!” from the latter. The backing visuals are mind-bending as they change chaotically from a cross-processed film of driving around Paris to iridescent lights, finally coming to a peaceful halt as a warm peach light bathes the crowd for the calm of ‘Sunset pt. II’.

The climax of the set is its ending, where “Armistice”, with its beautiful interplay of melodies, and crowd favourite “1901″ pulls us as close as possible to Mars, who is again in the crowd. As Phoenix depart the stage, it is thankfully only minutes until Mars and Mazzalai return for “Countdown”, a stripped back version that emphasises the emotion in lines like “Do you remember when 21 years was old?” Certainly, things take a nostalgic turn as Mars announces that “we have something special for you”, welcoming old friend and half of Air, Nicolas Godin, onstage for “Playground Love”, which the two co-wrote for Sofia Coppola’s 2000 film The Virgin Suicides.

This gentle respite soon ends as the rest of the band return to the stage for ‘If I Ever Feel Better’, which turns jumping into full-on grooving as they recreate their early disco days. Unbelievably, Mars makes his farthest crowd surf yet as he reaches near end of the stalls for the final track “Rome”, and as if in on the performance, his idolising fans bring him back majestically for the ending reprise of “Entertainment”. The set thus ends as it begun, leaving an Academy-worth of fans finally satisfied.

Set List:

ENTERTAINMENT
LASSO
LISZTOMANIA
LONG DISTANCE CALL
TOO YOUNG
GIRLFRIEND
RUN RUN RUN
TRYING TO BE COOL
DRAKKAR NOIR
CHLOROFORM
THE REAL THING
SUNSKRUPT !
CONSOLATION PRIZES
S.O.S. IN BEL AIR
ARMISTICE
1901
__
COUNTDOWN
PLAYGROUND LOVE
IF I EVER FEEL BETTER
ROME

• Photo by JASON WILLIAMSON. See the full gallery here.