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(Cue theTrapmemeswhen they started playing 1901.)
I dont think I can celebrate a whole week, front man Thomas Mars says of the performance.
But Ill definitely take a day.
Phoenix was asked to contribute to the Olympic celebrations with a relatively short lead time.
The significance of the moment isnt lost on Mars.
We always considered ourselves to be outsiders and not a part of the Establishment.
What made Phoenix a Closing Ceremony band as opposed to an Opening Ceremony band?
We only found out we were doing this three weeks ago.
It sounds really crazy.
We told the people in charge that if they needed us, we were available.
Its the Olympics we were into it.
They reached out to a lot of musicians, and there were so many unknown factors.
They asked us about the Closing Ceremony pretty late.
We were almost there in terms of doing the Opening.
The only thing they told us about the Closing was, This is a party for the athletes.
This is their prom.
The athletes are going to be wild and possibly drunk.
Its like the release of being so focused on a goal and then the pressure is suddenly shut off.
Listen, weve played at a lot of low-capacity clubs, some in the hundreds.
The energy at the Closing Ceremony mirrored those shows.
We recorded our last album,Alpha Zulu,in the Louvre.
But there were bees on the roof.
People were concerned about the bees.
There were a lot of hives to harvest honey.
These are the things you dont know about Paris.
There are certain places that contain a whole ecosystem of bees.
There were a lot of hurdles for the people who organized it.
French people are extremely relieved that everything went great.
There was definitely a climate of fear going into the elections and the Games.
But I think people really enjoyed them, and there was a sense of appreciation.
Were you at all surprised to get this call to perform?
How did you choose your collaborators?
What made you think of Air and Kavinsky?Air was the first band we thought of.
We wanted to share that with them and perform our song Playground Love.
I never do things outside of Phoenix, so I said no and didnt regret it.
I thought the song was perfect and didnt need my voice.
For French people, theres something that happened about ten years ago that proved to be an influence.
Someone createda fake posterfor a French music festival that never happened.
It was like: Daft Punk, us, Air, Kavinsky, Cassius, all of these bands.
People thought it was a real show, so there was high demand for it but it never happened.
We wanted that poster to come to life.
Was there anyone you were keen to join but didnt work out because of scheduling?
I know people were hoping Daft Punk would reunite.Yeah, Daft Punk doesnt exist anymore.
That was never an option.
People expect them to come back to life, but theyre gone.
We took a group photo and its so unusual.
Only in this context would these people come together.
Thats the main thing were all proud of.
Olympics Closing Ceremony 2024.
Merci Paris!!!
Were there any creative parameters that helped guide your ideas?
Theyre going to enter the stadium and stand on the outskirts of the running track.
The production people really freaked out.
It was good chaos, but we were worried.
We heard the voices in the stadium calling the athletes to move backward to their original spots.
Thats the power of Lisztomania.
People are risking their lives to see it live.There you go.
We still got really, really nervous.
When we told them our intended set list, they thought it worked well.
It was a good counterbalance to what they planned.
Its a more joyful side to the proceedings and less serious.
We have two bodyguards waiting for their shift to be over.
Its empty and sad.
This was the opposite.
There were 150 flags with people wearing their traditional uniforms waving and cheering for us.
So we wanted to do the same for them.
Your crowd-surfing was excellent.
Was that a spontaneous decision?That was somewhat unplanned.
They invited me to do that because I crowd-surf at some shows.
I assumed they would say no to that kind of thing.
At first I was worried that maybe there would be too many drunk Olympians.
Sometimes, I was told, medals disappear during the Closing Ceremonies.
So I was surprised they let me do it.
When we started 1901, all of the American athletes were right in front of us.
They were the country responding to 1901 the most.
Im not the hero here, hes the hero.
And then they lifted me up and I exchanged shirts with someone.
Do you consider this to be the biggest performance of your career as a band?
How do you eclipse this?Thats the big question.
But the answer is: Its not happening.
Weve never had more pressure or people watching us.
But it still somehow felt like a club show.
I think Paris is sad that the Olympics are gone.
I can say Im sad.
They feared the Olympics for a long time and thought it would be mayhem.
People will look back at this and realize what a joyful moment it was.
There was a lot of healing.
Theres something beyond the music for us and French people about this experience.
Ive talked to a few friends in Los Angeles who might make the same mistakes as some Parisians did.
It turned out to be the best of Paris.
