Phoenix Tickets

Francophiles unite! The French alternative superstars Phoenix are on a massive world tour this summer. Tickets are now available to see the French soulmates of Dr. Dog, Golden Boots and Pavement at a venue near you. The former backing band for the electronica duo Air are touring hot-on-the-heels of their smash hit album "Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix" and its hit singles "1901" and "Lisztomania." After a decade struggling in obscurity, the Parisians hit it big in the U.S., buoyed by their appearances on Late Night with David Letterman, the Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien, and Saturday Night Live. Recent live reviews are nothing less than ecstatic, describing a band on the top of their game plowing through songs from all stages of their career with the relentlessness of a tuneful attack dog.

Phoenix got their start in Versailles, a suburb of Paris, in 1999. Vocalist Thomas Mars, bassist Deck D'Arcy, and guitarist Christian Mazzalai started a band and toured around on the French bar circuit doing Hank Williams and Prince covers. They were soon joined by Christian's brother Laurent Brancowitz who had been in the band Darlin'. When he joined Phoenix, the other Darlin' members formed the electronic duo Daft Punk. On tour the line-up is augmented by drummer Thomas Hedlund and keyboardist Robin Coudert. Phoenix have released five albums: "United" (2000), "Alphabetical" (2004), "Live! Thirty Days Ago" (2005), "It's Never Been Like That" (2006), and "Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix" (2009), which was the Grammy winner for Best Alternative Album. Phoenix's early albums betray their Frenchness, even though they sing in English, with their post-disco/house sound. While the debut, "United" features a variety of soubnds and tempos, the follow-up "Alophabetical" is a shimmering synthfest from beginning to end. With the third album, "It's Never Been Like That" you begin to see the indie rock side of the band as they concentrate on their songcraft, producing exquisitely crafted pop gems that now rely more heavily on guitar than on the previous albums. Their latest release, "Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix" is the perfect distillation of all the different sounds and styles of the previous albums. With this album, Phoenix have created their first emo masterpiece.

Phoenix will be playing many of the summer festivals this year, including Bonnarroo in Tennessee, Lollapalooza in Chicago, Festival de Carcassonne in France, the Reading, Leeds and Glastonbury Festivals in England, the Hurricane and Southside Festivals in Germany, the Werchter Festival in Belgium, the Optimus Alive Festival in Lisbon and the Field Day Festival in London.