Phoenix traveled a long way from home to be at the 2023 iHeartRadio ALTer EGO presented by Capital One and that made sure their performance was a memorable one! On Saturday, January 14th, the French Indie darlings from Versailles lit up the Kia Forum stage with selections from their discography of the last 23 years.
The band (Thomas Mars [lead vocals], Deck d'Arcy [bass/keyboards/backing vocals], Christian Mazzalai [guitar/backing vocals], and Laurent Brancowitz [guitar/keyboards/backing vocals]) started off with a few songs from one of their biggest albums, 2009's Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix including "Lisztomania" and "Lasso." The two tracks were released as singles as the popularity of the album rapidly grew.
Flashing forward 13 years, the band played "After Midnight" from their latest album Alpha Zulu, which dropped in 2022. Phoenix started recording their seventh album during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 at the Musée des Arts décoratifs, a studio located within the Louvre Palace in Paris.
Mars took a moment to talk to the crowd and reveal that the band will be returning to the Forum sometime soon, which has yet to be announced. Taking it back to their 2000 debut United, Phoenix continued their ALTer EGO set with "If I Ever Feel Better." They then returned to the present with the eponymous track from Alpha Zulu, which served as the lead single, and "Tonight."
To wrap up their set, Phoenix burst into their infectious hit from Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix, "1901." Just when they thought the set was over, Mars jumped into the audience and brought his extra-long microphone cord down with him as he walked through the audience and ended up scaling a wall to get to the fans on the second level of the Forum. Fans watched in awe as the lead singer thanked them up close.
Phoenix was just one of the iconic acts which also included stunning performances from Rock and Roll Hall of Famers Red Hot Chili Peppers, Jack White, Muse, Fall Out Boy, CHVRCHES, Beach Weather, and Rosa Linn, and it was all hosted by Woody of iHeartRadio ALT 98.7's nationally syndicated "The Woody Show."