I was skeptical. Phoenix at the Garden?? Are you serious?? And who are their support acts? Uhhh Waves and Dirty Projectors?? Give. Me. A. Break.

Seeing that this show was part of the CMJ Festival (NYC's version of SXSW annnd my craziest time of the year), I was going to hold off on my remarks until I actually saw them play in a venue of this capacity. I am going to admit, however, that I did leave my little fourth floor desk in the belly of MSG - almost directly below the arena floor - at about 7:00 p.m. to go home, have a glass of Bordeaux and come back for Phoenix's set, caring less about the openers. Quite rare for me to not show love for the opening bands, but I just couldn't stomach this one.

Now, whilst I finish my wine, let's flash back to 2002, driving around in my friend's car. Seniors in high school. I decide I want to test out this cool new band on him. Alt-rock. From France. Called Phoenix.

Album: United
Track #4: "If I Ever Feel Better"

All I got from him:

"Sounds like Jamiroquai."

"Oooook," I say, "back to Ja Rule it is." (As I chuckle to myself, I hope you all realize that was a joke.)

Annyway, fast-forward to 2009. Phoenix releases Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix. They play hard on the festival circuit. People go bananas! Bookers go bananas! All the sudden, you are not cool if Phoenix isn't on your radar.

Fast-forward again to October 20th, 2010. While it was clear that they sure as heck weren't used to the rules of this type of venue, I must say that they carried its size in their performance. I had only planned on staying for four or so songs to see if they could hold their own. That was, of course, until I got word that Daft Punk was going to be their guests for the encore.

"I guess I can wait until midnight to eat dinner..." was my first thought. My second was, "This is going to be rad."

Aside from the inevitable goodness that was to happen during the encore, mid-way through their set, they projected a planetarium graphic onto the ceiling. Which. Was. Awesome. A concert under the stars, but you're inside? I wish all bands did that in arenas.

And now, one more fast-forward to the encore. What song did they play with Daft Punk? Ahhh yesss... I believe it was...

"If I Ever Feel Better"

Life is a series of very interesting and amusing coincidental circles. In that moment, Phoenix and I came full-circle and I boogied my little heart out.

Photos: Pardon the crap pocket-cam shots.