Phoenix & Neon Indian @ OAT, SDSU, 9/21/2010

A couple weeks ago, I accompanied Jeff to the Open Air Theatre to see Phoenix and Neon Indian. I thought I'd posted this but just realized that I hadn't, so here it is now. We had great seats in the front row of the section just behind the pit and my only complaint was that the Elite security guard was right in front of us most of the night since they wristband the people in the pit section. Not a big deal though because once the show was in full swing, they for the most part moved out of the way. I also got a photo pass to the show. My friend Andrew who writes for various publications/sites was trying to convince me before the show that it's time to upgrade to a pro camera, and on the one hand, perhaps that might've helped my photos handle the backlight and the fog machine. On the other hand, the other photographers had to leave after the third song to take their gear back to their cars, whereas I was able to go to my seat and watch the rest of the show with my point and shoot in my purse.

I saw Neon Indian earlier this summer at the Casbah and though it wasn't necessarily my thing even then, on the huge stage with the huge sound the blips and bleeps just made me feel like an old lady. My entire insides were rattled from the bass and maybe I hear things on a higher frequency in a physical way, but I almost felt seasick after the set if that makes any sense. I know that people love what they do and for their style of music, they do it well, but I won't be racing out to see the band again anytime soon.


Phoenix on the other hand, I've seen before and know how they do a great job using a stage and making an appealing light show (though also challenging with the fog machine for the part of the set when I was in the photo pit). They started the show with Lisztomania and closed with 1901 and played a lot of material in between for their nearly 90 minute set, including a few songs played in the middle of the crowd as well as the end of 1901 where the singer started from the back row of section CC and hopped through the rows of seats until he returned to the stage. All in all a lovely evening. You can check out the rest of my photos if you click 'keep on reading' at the bottom of the page.