2014 saw Wisconsin group Phox release their delightful (self-titled) debut album (which made our honorable mentions for albums of the year) and tour throughout the country opening for acts like The Head and The Heart, Paolo Nutini, as well as a headlining tour of their own. Things are just getting started for the band, who have embarked on yet another tour, with many major festival dates already lined up.
Fellow Wisconsin outfit (and Partisan Records label mate) Field Report opened the show. The group is led by Chris Porterfield, who played with Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon in Wisconsin band DeYarmond Edison during the early 2000’s. While their sound favors sparse folk arrangements, there’s also a bit of electronic influence at play, allowing them to stretch the genre a bit further. Many tracks came off of their most recent album, Marigolden, which came out last year.
There are many ways to describe the music of Phox: Gentle, elegant, touching, sublime. There’s a genuine beauty at work with Phox, one that really reaches its peak inception when they play live. Their debut album is a promising beginning, but they’re even more fleshed out and exciting live in concert (as I first found out at Mercury Lounge last summer). This is large in part to the cheering deposition of frontwoman Monica Martin, who entertained the crowd with hilarious banter in between songs, such as calling the setlist a “graveyard of all my exes.”
Phox’s live lineup was trimmed down from seven members to six, but the impact and power of their material was all the same. Their set was broken up into different sections, showcasing their ability to tackle many different approaches of their material. The first section featured the regular full band, with the second featuring acoustic renditions of tracks like “1936” and “Kingfisher” as the band members huddled around a condenser microphone. From there Monica took turns with various members with certain tracks, which included covers of J.E. Sunde’s “I Will Smile When I Think Of You” as well as The Ronettes’ “Be My Baby,” which she performed with Rae Cassidy (who toured with San Fermin). The full band then returned for a final set of songs to send us home in the cold a little bit warmer.
It’s only a matter of time before Phox elevate towards bigger stages that their sound seems built for. They’re already accomplished songwriters (the band’s Matteo Roberts + Zach Johnson scored an Oscar nominates short called The Dam Keeper) and excellent live musicians. They’re slowly building a dedicated fanbase that will only grow over time, and rightfully so.
Phox Setlist:
1. Shrinking Violets
2. Leisure
3. Satyr and the Faun
4. Never Lover
5. 1936
6. Kingfisher
7. Evil
8. I Will Smile When I Think Of You (J.E. Sunde Cover)
9. Slow Motion
10. Blue and White
11. Noble Heart
12. Be My Baby Cover (Monica + Rae Cassidy)
13. Calico Man
14. Not For All The Love (The Thrills Cover)
15. Espeon
Field Report:
Phox:
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