Phoenix kick off Alpha Zulu Tour at Palace Theater

Phoenix performed at Palace Theater in St. Paul on Tuesday, September 6, 2022. Porches was the opening act.Natalia Mendez for MPR

Like this?

Thanks for liking this song! We have added it to a personal playlist for you.

September 07, 2022

The last time Phoenix played in Minnesota, the Twins were playing their inaugural season at Target Field. We still had to slog to Wisconsin to buy beer on Sundays, and the blue line was our sole form of metro rail transit. But in the years since their August 2010 show at the State Theatre, the band put out two albums (with another on the way), toured worldwide, and sang a Christmas song with Bill Murray.

As for Minnesota, we can buy our own beer on Sundays now, we built another train line (with another on the way), and the Twins … well, we don’t need to talk about the Twins anymore. While the crowd anxiously awaited the start of Tuesday’s Phoenix show at the Palace Theater, one thing was certain: Minnesota’s love for the band has only grown over the past 12 years.

Phoenix rewarded our midwestern patience tenfold by kicking off their North American Alpha Zulu Tour at the Palace. Along for the ride was the tour’s opener, Porches.

A band performs on a stage lit by multicolor lights — Phoenix performed at Palace Theater in St. Paul on Tuesday, September 6, 2022. Porches was the opening act.
Natalia Mendez for MPR

Porches is the brainchild of New York-based musician Aaron Maine and, as is often the case with projects described as a “brainchild,” the result is tough to classify into a singular genre. During a 40-ish-minute set, the band (Maine plus a drummer and guitarist) combined catchy synth loops, grungy guitar-driven indie rock, and auto-tuned vocals into something that, for this review, we’ll just refer to as “porch-core.”

Maine is a man of few words, but when he did throw some banter towards the crowd, it was gracious and appreciative. Following the band’s opening song (“Okay”): “I love you. I’m so excited to be here. Thank you for having us.” A few more songs: “St. Paul is my new favorite f*cking city.” A few more: “I’m so excited to see Phoenix tonight.”

There’s a certain heaviness present in Porches’ live show that doesn’t always come through on their albums. That’s likely due to the slew of backing tracks accompanying the trio onstage. Pre-tracked synths, basslines, auxiliary percussion, and additional guitars and vocals combine with the live tracks to create an impressive wall of sound that compliments the band’s energy well.

As Porches wrapped up their set, crowd chatter quickly filled the space and grew louder as techs readied the stage. Eventually, a curtain dropped, signaling Phoenix’s triumphant Minnesota return was nearly upon us.

The lights finally dimmed to intense applause, but the curtain didn’t rise. Instead, the stage panels flanking either side and top of the curtain illuminated as a giant French Baroque arch — no doubt a nod to the band’s Versailles origins. The scene remained for a moment before the curtain rose to reveal Phoenix in all their long-awaited glory.

The core of Phoenix consists of singer Thomas Mars, bassist Deck D'Arcy, and brothers Laurent Brancowitz and Christian Mazzalai on guitar. Rounding out the onstage contingent are longtime touring members Robin Coudert on keys and Thomas Hedlund on drums. (Hedlund’s main gig is drumming for Swedish post-metal band Cult of Luna, where he’s known to beat the ever-loving meatballs out of his drums. As it turns out, he hits just as hard while playing synth-pop!)

The band immediately kicked into “Lisztomania” from their 2009 Grammy-award-winning album Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix as the entire stage came alive before us. Carrying through the Baroque motif, the band was immersed in a scene from inside a French palace overlooking a snow-capped mountain. At the arrival of the first chorus, the scene faded, and the stage was illuminated in strobe lights while even brighter lights flashed into the crowd. Then back to the French palace. Then back to the strobes. Then the entire stage was a massive diamond kaleidoscope.

The choreographed chaos of the visuals accompanying “Lisztomania” set the tone for the rest of the show. As the band jumped from song to song, multi-dimensional lights and screens turned every square inch of the stage into a magnificent spectacle. The lights and visuals changed constantly. We went from the French countryside to Tron-like light bars to neon lights to brilliant full washes of color to bright patterns to anything else that Phoenix decided we needed to see. During “Trying To Be Cool,” Mars peered at the crowd through a set of binoculars that were actually a camera. The footage was live-streamed to the screen behind the band like some sort of Phoenix kiss cam.

While all those changing scenes and visuals could easily come across as gimmicky or distracting if not executed properly, it was anything but. It was chaotically beautiful, and it only strengthened the band’s already flawless performance.

Despite releasing two albums since their Minnesota appearance, eight of the band’s 19-song set were from Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix. They clearly know what people want to hear because those eight tracks received by far the biggest reaction from the nostalgia-seeking crowd.

Also nestled in the set were the band’s two latest singles: “Alpha Zulu” and “Tonight.” First release back in June, “Alpha Zulu” hints at a shift towards more straightforward synth-pop. At times it’s reminiscent of Arizona-based (Tempe, not Phoenix!) electronic duo Body of Light and it’s an absolute bop. By the end of “Alpha Zulu,” no one was standing still. Every head was bobbing; every foot was tapping.

“Tonight” is so recent that it wasn’t even released when they played it. “This is a new song. It’s coming out tomorrow. It’s called “Tonight.” By now, if you’re reading this, “Tonight” is available on all streaming platforms. But for a few hours, those present at the Palace were some of the only people in the world to have heard this song which seems like a nice way for Phoenix to say, “Hey, sorry we were gone so long.”

The band wrapped their main set with “Rome,” and the curtain again came down. During what seemed like the longest delay between a set and an encore ever, the crowd grew restless. Endless cheering and “one more song” chants grew. Finally, the curtain rose to reveal Mars, D'Arcy, and a chunky purple grand piano. The duo played through “Fior di Latte” before attempting a few bars of “Starfish and Coffee” by Prince (and the Muppets, of course).

With the crowd’s help, Mars called the rest of the band back onstage to plow through the final song of the evening, “1901.” After what seemed like the loudest sing-along in human history, Mars dropped off stage and began working his way through the crowd to personally thank people for coming to the show. Eventually, as he made his way back towards the stage, he stood atop the crowd for a moment to wave at everyone and once again thank people for coming.

No, no, Phoenix. Thank YOU for finally coming back to Minnesota and bringing such a spectacular evening with you.

Porches