Phoenix And Passion Pit Played Central Park - Pictures, Review, Setlist

On Saturday night, after hearing a chat with Ryan Adams, we headed uptown to see Phoenix and Passion Pit rock out in Central Park. The pair had already played Rumsey Playfield the night before, and by all accounts it was a spectacular show. We were eager to take in what would be one of the final outdoor concerts of the summer.

Passion Pit opened the night, and despite what we had from some haters the night before, the band delivered a solid set that was firing on all cylinders. The vocals were on point, the instrumentals were tight, and most importantly, they got the entire crowd dancing without exception. Not only that, but they were the perfect opener for Phoenix: fun, cheery, and full of energy.

Phoenix took to the stage around 8:30, and started things off with a bang: "Lisztomania" was the first song out of the gate. From there the band dove into a traversal of their last three records with "Long Distance Call", "Lasso", and a searing version of "Run Run Run". From there the set, while occasionally making a step into the back catalog, focused heavily on Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix. This obviously wasn't much of a stretch for the crowd, who eagerly sang along to every word of the band's latest record.

After closing out the set with a jam that included "Rome" and "Funky Squaredance", the band returned for an encore. The encore began with Thomas Mars and Christian Mazzalai delivering stripped down versions of "Everything Is Everything" and "Playground Love". This was followed by the full band kicking into killer versions of "If I Ever Feel Better" and "1901". Needless to say, we, and the crowd, were extremely pleased.

If you're even a semi-regular reader of HAD, you've probably picked up on the fact that we're pretty smitten with Phoenix, in particular their live show. Well, Saturday night did nothing to change that: the band expertly delivered a set that not only traversed their catalog, but never had a dull moment. The bottom line is that this is a band who are perfectly in line with their ever-expanding popularity, and show no sign of slowing down any time soon.

Phoenix Setlist
--
Lisztomania
Long Distance Call
Lasso
Run Run Run
Fences
Girlfriend
Love Like A Sunset
Too Young
Rally
Consolation Prizes
Rome->
Funky Squaredance ->
Rome
--
Everything Is Everything (quiet)
Playground Love (quiet)
If I Ever Feel Better
1901

Many more photos at the HAD Archive