Originally published on Sun, Jan 24, 2010 at 9:36 PM

I had some doubts going in to Saturday night’s sold-out Phoenix show at Showbox SoDo. Every show I had previously seen at SoDo had terrible sound, and the idea of trying to dance in a sold-out, crammed floor was discouraging. I was curious to see what kind of crowd it would be, seeing as how the show sold out within days of being announced, a full month ago (scalpers were asking $125 per ticket outside the venue). Thanks to Phoenix’s incredible surge of mainstream popularity from their newest record, the crowd seemed to be about half teenagers, but from the look of them they all seemed like cool, fashion-conscious teens with discerning taste. The opening act Soft Pack was pretty mediocre and innocuous driving rock. Their sound was way too loud and bass heavy, and their songs never seemed to go anywhere interesting. I was surprised Phoenix would have an opener with so little swagger.

Phoenix opened with “Lisztomania,” instantly causing the huge crowd to jump and chant along with every word. To my delight, I took out my earplugs after a few seconds and found that unlike during the the opening act the sound was now excellently mixed and just the right volume. The set started heavy with songs from Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix — the only one I can’t remember them playing or not was “Countdown.” They brought down all the lights except for illuminated blue columns on the stage for “Fences,” which somehow seemed simultaneously more driving and beautiful in a live setting. Around half an hour in they started into the krautrock interlude from Wolfgang, “Love Like a Sunset.” After slowly building up repeating riffs the whole band dropped out except for the two guitarists, standing in spotlights front stage. They coyly played off each other's subdued guitar lines for a few minutes before the rest of the band kicked back in, this time with a propulsive beat, ominous red lights and huge synths which made the song feel almost like a Daft Punk tune with a touch of the Knight Rider theme.

The band played around with several small aspects of their songs: changing endings, new interludes, and adding four-on-the-floor kick drums for extra dance punch. They played the first four songs off It’s Never Been Like That, “Too Young,” “Funky Squaredance,” and “If I Ever Feel Better” from United, and opened their encore with a guitar and vocal only ballad version of “Everything is Everything.” Though the crowd was exuberant for the dancier numbers off Wolfgang, there was a lot of standing around for the older numbers, which newer fans had probably never heard before.

Still, the excitement and energy in the crowd was immense, with most people dancing and screaming along the lyrics to almost every song. Though the floor was definitely packed tight, it seemed that at least ¾ of the people around me were trying to dance and move around, however limited in space they were. The light show was tasteful and effective in getting the crowd going, and the band played flawlessly. They are a group of undeniably cool dudes, and they seemed honestly humbled by the enormous reception the sold-out crowd gave them. Singer Thomas Mars dedicated “Rome,” which he dubbed a “goodbye song,” to the city of Federal Way (what?), and promised that the band wouldn’t overlook Seattle again when they came back to the States on their next tour.

For the finale the band worked the entire floor into a jumping, chanting, sweaty heap for “1901.” Mars jumped off the stage, ran to the barrier of the 21+ section, and crowd surfed triumphantly all the way back to the front. The stage suddenly flooded with bodies as the band strummed the same chords on repeat. When there wasn’t room for another person they finally struck the final notes of the song, causing the whole room to explode one last time. Though I obviously would have preferred seeing the band in a more intimate setting, at this point in Phoenix's career that request is absurd. Phoenix is massive now, and they're handling that massiveness with savvy and clout. I couldn't have asked for anything more from their show. I left SoDo covered in sweat, smiling from ear to ear and feeling like I was floating with every step.

photos by Josh Bis; more after the jump

The Soft Pack: