On the rise

With all of today's chatter of excessively high winds, snow, ice, and possible power outages on the way, I was a bit concerned whether I'd be able to make it to tonight's sold out Phoenix concert. Other than some traffic lights near me that got knocked out in mid-afternoon, the winds didn't wreak much havoc, and the precipitation hadn't come. Which is all for the best because Phoenix put on a terrific show at the Newport Music Hall.

The French rock band's set drew mostly from its stellar 2009 album Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix, which one website tapped as the best album of 2009 and one of the decade's best. I'm inclined to agree on both counts. Played live the shimmering songs sounded exceptionally clean and rich, perhaps the best I've ever heard the sound at this venue. With the band often performing backlit, the music truly served as the focus and not just part of a visual extravaganza.

For me this has been a great year for attending concerts. Tonight, packed in among 1700 people, Phoenix brought it to a terrific end.

Lead singer Thomas Mars even wandered back to the area where I was watching, as he and the band finished up "1901" and the evening's concert.