The French band Phoenix is selling out shows on its current tour and will be hitting town Thursday night at the Louisville Palace on 4th Street, fresh from this past weekend's Coachella Festival in California (but as of this writing, you should still be able to snap up some tickets for the 8:00 p.m. show). It's been a big year for the Paris-based band; they won the Best Alternative Album Grammy Award for their current release Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and they've been jetting around the globe ever since -- Japan, Australia, Europe, as well as this swing through the American Midwest and South, which will include the huge Bonnaroo Festival in Manchester, TN.
I first discovered Phoenix from their third studio album (2006), It's Never Been Like That, which impressed me as some of the best pop-rock I'd heard in ages. There's nothing precious, cloying, or overly cerebral about them, if that's your impression of a lot of alt-genre music. They are irrepressibly energetic even when singing songs about doomed relationships and lost innocence. Tickets for the April 22 show are $32, available by calling the Palace box office (502-583-4555) or purchasing online from livenation.com.
(Photo credit: Phoenix Official Web site)
Last, but not least, Titus Andronicus
For a little less cash, but no less indie-cred, you can catch Titus Andronicus Wednesday, April 21, 8:00 p.m. at Skull Alley (1017 E. Broadway). Pay $10 at the door and see a band Rolling Stone named one of the top 10 best new bands of 2010. Hailing from Glen Rock, NJ and named for a bloody Shakespeare play, they're intriguing enough to venture out on a school night, kids.
