Phoenix frontman Thomas Mars, who performed at the concert at the Stade de France for the closing ceremony of the Paris Olympics on Sunday, said he was concerned about the safety of athletes during the show.
French indie rock band Phoenix delivered a rousing rendition of their hit “Lisztomania” surrounded by hundreds of athletes.
Although Mars is used to live performances, the Olympics closing ceremony was a different kind of performance, he told French radio France Inter on Monday morning, because of the overjoyed crowd of athletes who went out of control during the musical act.
“We were told that the athletes at closing ceremonies are generally very happy with the pressure of the Olympics, so they let go,” Mars said. “But there they stood on screens, they broke the screens,” he said. “We were actually afraid of them because during the last two weeks of rehearsal we were told: ‘Don’t stand on the screens, it will fall out!’ And there (at the Stade de France) we saw 400 people on a screen,” he said, laughing.
“So we kept playing and tried not to see what was happening,” he said. At one point during the performance, the athletes also came on stage in what appeared to be a rehearsed scene. But Mars said it wasn’t planned. “We’re kind of used to people storming the stage. As Branco (Laurent Brancowitz, the group’s guitarist) says, “It’s something that happens.” But there have been bad situations in the past where people fell through the stage. Everything went well there anyway, except we only had sweaty hands!” he said.
Brancowitz, who was also interviewed by France Inter, said Phoenix was given “carte blanche” for their live show. “All we were asked was ‘to make the concert for the athletes, because they are the heroes.’ But we didn’t think they would be even a meter away,” he said, adding that it was an “amazing experience.”
Phoenix was joined on stage by artists such as Air and DJ Kavinsky who are also part of the so-called French Touch, a music wave that started in the mid-1990s and mixed electro, dance, jazz and rock beats.
Kavinsky and Belgian singer Angèle performed ‘Nightcall’, the breakout song from Nicolas Winding Refn’s ‘Drive’, while Air played ‘Playground Love’ with Phoenix. The song was featured in “The Virgin Suicides”, directed by Sofia Coppola, who happens to be the wife of Mars.
The ceremony, orchestrated by Artistic Director Thomas Jolly, culminated in the handover to LA2028 Games. The segment, produced by LA Games organizers, featured Grammy award-winning superstar HER singing the American national anthem with gusto and Tom Cruise jumping from the stadium roof to take the Olympic flag from Team USA champion Simone Biles and the mayor of LA. Karen Bass. Billie Eilish, Red Hot Chili Peppers and Snoop Dog’s performances, meanwhile, were all pre-recorded in Long Beach.