Last night at the Wiltern, Phoenix put on one of the best shows I’ve seen all year. And I know what you’re thinking, really? Could a band with such a studio-produced sound really rock out the Wiltern?  The usually-jaded-LA crowd not only danced the entire time, but also screamed themselves hoarse and executed the slightly more tricky double-claps.Something in the air just seemed perfect for this Phoenix performance.

Were we all hurting from the sudden departure of the King of Pop? As the sweaty and satisfied audience filed out after the second encore, they began playing Michael Jackson (”Rock With You”) over the PA – and a good half of the audience stayed to dance.  That in itself was an amazing thing I’ve never seen before.  We rushed down to the floor to boogie to “The Way You Make Me Feel” but then the Wiltern management saw that the crowd wasn’t leaving, so they turned it off gently.  Wow.