photos by Ryan Muir

Phoenix's Thomas Mars in the SoHo Apple Store

"As a devoted follower of Phoenix, I was considerably excited to see them perform again after their appearance at the Apple Store last Thursday. While the music was gorgeously executed and the setlist was everything I could ask for, the quotidian annoyances of attending a large-capacity outdoor concert presented considerable obstacles. But Phoenix is the kind of band that is worth seeing even if frat boys are elbowing and shoving you, sorority girls are trampling on your feet, and everyone in your vicinity is blowing a variety of unpleasant smokes into your face all the while.

With that said, Phoenix played a set of songs mostly from Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix, but with a few from Alphabetical and United, their earliest records. Thomas Mars owned the stage with great warmth, more so than at the Apple Store, and the band passed their enormous energy on to the vast crowd, which was undeterred by the rain that began to fall toward the end of "Rome" and steadily increased through the end of the encore. The two songs that Thomas and Laurent Brancowitz performed alone during the encore provided a glimpse of what a Phoenix show might sound like in a venue like the Bowery Ballroom." [Trust Me On This]

Phoenix played the Apple Store on Thursday (9/24) and then appeared on Fallon that same night (I would include that video, but it's been deleted off the Internet). Friday and Saturday were the two shows at Rumsey Playfield aka Central Park Summerstage. Pictures and the setlist from SoHo, and the setlist & videos from Summerstage (including the part where Thomas came into the crowd), below...

Continue reading "Phoenix played 2 Central Park shows w/ Passion Pit, Fallon & the SoHo Apple Store (pics, setlist) "

Phoenix are playing a free show at the SoHo Apple store on Thursday (9/24, 8pm). Their sold out shows at Central Park Summerstage with Passion Pit happen on Friday and Saturday.

Continue reading "Phoenix are playing the Apple Store Thursday -- the Summerstage shows are Friday & Saturday "

photos by Lori Baily

If you hung out in New York's Soho neighborhood in the early 1980s, chances are you could've caught an early Sonic Youth performing in an avant-garde loft space. A lot has changed in the last three decades. Last night, to celebrate the release of their terrific new album The Eternal, the indie-rock heroes returned to the now-gentrified neighborhood to perform a short-but-sweet set at the Apple store. [Rolling Stone]

More pictures and the setlist from Tuesday's show, below...

Continue reading "Sonic Youth @ the Apple Store in SoHo in NYC - pics, setlist"