Phoenix and Friends Rise to the Occasion at Hollywood Bowl

Joseph Baura

With the release of their latest album, “Ti Amo,” French band, Phoenix, shared a series of songs that they claim are a perfect representation of their Latin and Euro roots through stories about love, desire, lust, innocence and purity. While the album is a detour from the band’s more accessible and radio friendly albums like “Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix,” their latest effort seems to feel like a more focused project that will come to be one of the band’s more highly regarded pieces of work. In celebration of their latest album and fan favorite hits, Phoenix took to the Hollywood Bowl, accompanied by several friends in Mac DeMarco and The Lemon Twigs who provided support as openers.

While their sets were somewhat condensed, The Lemon Twigs and Mac DeMarco provided solid performances that gave a relaxing, comforting vibe in the Bowl that set the mood for what was to come later in the night with Phoenix. The Lemon Twigs, who made their breakout through the release of their album, “Do Hollywood,” performed a short 6 song set before finishing with the song “I Can Feel the Fire,” with some help from Phoenix’s Thomas Hedlund on drums. Mac DeMarco, with his psychedelic 60s rock sentiments, delved into songs from his album “Salad Days,” and his recent release, “This Old Dog.” Before closing out his set, DeMarco performed a stunning cover of Vanessa Carlton’s “A Thousand Miles,” which was displayed in a very unique fashion.

With two solid performances already in the books, all that was left was for Phoenix to take the stage. The stage design, which featured a floor lit with several lights, was reflected onto a backdrop that featured a large mirror providing a mesmerizing visual effect. As the band stepped onto the stage, the reflected images of the band members made for a one of a kind viewing experience for fans and added to the overall enjoyment of the band’s music, which itself brought a warm, calming vibe at the Bowl.

Opening with the title track from their latest album, the heavy bass instrumental started the night off and ensured that the rest of the evening would be full of upbeat, dance worthy tunes. Followed by songs like “Lasso” and “Lisztomania,” Phoenix was off to a great start.

Midway through their setlist, Phoenix touched on one of their most recent singles, “J-Boy,” which was met with an overwhelmingly positive response from the crowd with almost everyone in attendance singing along. Each member of the band seemed thrilled to be on stage as they moved back and forth on the mirrored stage interacting with the crowd. Phoenix ended their set with “If I Ever Feel Better,” “Armistice,” and “Rome” before coming back onto the stage for an encore performance which featured “Countdown,” one of the many songs they performed from their “Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix” album.

After a night of upbeat pop and dance inducing tunes, it was clear that Phoenix has clearly hit their stride. From previously successful albums to their latest effort, Phoenix clearly has an array of sounds to please fans of many different tastes.

Phoenix and friends provided a relaxing, dance inducing show to the Hollywood Bowl on June 15.