Phillip Phillips Shines at The Beacon Theatre

Last night Phillip Phillip and band played a very special show for Bud Light’s One Night Only concert series. The show took place at the historic Beacon Theatre in New York, NY. The 2,600-seat theatre was built in 1929 and beautifully restored in 2009, hosting greats such as The Allman Brothers Band, Eric Clapton, Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers, and many others throughout its 90 year history.Continue Reading →

Phillip Phillips at Bell’s Eccentric Cafe

Phillip Phillips played a special acoustic set at Bell’s Eccentric Cafe in Kalamazoo, MI last night.
The incredible band Striking Matches, who toured with Phillip earlier this year, opened the show and Evan Penza, his guitarist during the Magnetic Tour, accompanied Phillip on guitar. It was a chance to see Phillip at his most pure: just a couple of guitars, a feast of beautiful arrangements of originals and covers, and a lot of laughs and stories. Check out a couple of photos and clips from the show below!Continue Reading →

Phillip Phillips Closes Magnetic Tour in Chattanooga

Phillip Phillips closed his Magnetic Tour last night at the Walker Theater in Chattanooga, TN. To celebrate, Phillip invited his incredible openers, The Ballroom Thieves, to join him on stage for a performance of “Eleanor Rigby” and “Home.” It was the triumphant close to a 43-date US tour that took Phillip and his band across the country (with two stops in Canada) and to every weather possible during a drawn-out winter and cold spring. Double that amount of shows for Phillip himself, who performed a solo VIP show and Q&A before each main concert in every city. Still, Phillip’s energy and that of his band never faltered, elevating each show to the highest level of musicianship and pure musical celebration.

Phillip Phillips closes the Magnetic Tour in Chattanooga, TN. Photo: Jessica Rayome.
The Striking Matches performs at The Fillmore in Silver Spring, MD. Photo: Elvan McMillen.

 

 

This was a special tour for several reasons. It was Phillip’s first solo headlining tour since 2014, as well as the first officially in support of his latest album, Collateral. It also marked the beginning of a new era for Phillip and his career, leaving behind the legal troubles that haunted him for the last three years. There is no question that it was a resounding success, with many sold out VIP performances or full shows. Two spectacular bands shared duties opening for Phillip, Nashville’s Striking Matches and Boston’s The Ballroom Thieves, each covering a leg of the 10-week tour. The venues were small, intimate theatres, and included several historic ones such as The Fillmore in San Francisco, the Neptune Theatre in Seattle, and the beautiful House of Blues in Chicago.

The Ballroom Thieves perform in Seattle, WA. Photo: PhillPhillcom.
Phillip Phillips performs in Toronto, Canada. Photo by Danielle.

Almost all of the twelve songs off Collateral made their way to the set lists, either as part of the main show or the VIP performance. Phillip, a master arranger of covers, brought out old favourites like Usher’s “Nice and Slow,” Phil Collins’ “In The Air Tonight,” and Michael Jackson’s “Thriller.” He also added the hot and funky “She’s a Bad Mama Jama” by Carl Carlton to the repertoire. As always, Phillip excelled at both his acoustic, solo performances and those with his band, a mega talented group of mostly Nashville musicians who brought new energy and flavour to old and new songs. It all added to a truly unforgettable tour.

Check out some of our favourite photos from the Magnetic Tour below!

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If you are already missing Phillip and band, listen to their incredible full performance in Nashville, courtesy of Lighting 100.

Featured photo by Myrah Sarwar.

Phillip Phillips is Magnetic in Seattle and Vancouver

When we go to the movies, we agree to suspend our disbelief and let ourselves be told a story. When we go to a concert, there is a contract between artist and audience to be open, be vulnerable and share in a special, ephemeral moment. In his recent stops in Seattle, WA and Vancouver, Canada Phillip Phillips more than fulfilled his part of this contract, performing a mix of old and new songs with a beautiful combination of masterful skill and passionate abandon, his heart fully open. Though the back to back shows were completely different in energy and mood, both were a reminder of the power of live music to elevate us from the everyday into the joyful and the extraordinary.

Phillip Phillips is in the middle of his Magnetic Tour in support of his third album Collateral. And even though Phillips has toured nearly constantly for the last six years, this tour has special significance. Freed from the legal troubles that weighed on him since early 2015, the tour represents, in a way, a new beginning. While is impossible to say that his shows have ever been anything less than electric, there was in Phillips a new boldness and self-assuredness that was evident not only in his singing and playing, but also in his command of the audience, making us laugh one minute, sing in perfect unison the next, and be in tears a few minutes later at the end of the song.

Accompanying Phillips this tour is a multi-talented, brand new group of musicians, which have given the music its own 2018 flavour: the incredible Jeff Randall on drums, Jared Jackson on bass and trumpet, Elliott Blaufuss on keys and saxophone, and the low-key but powerful Evan Penza on guitar. Phillips’ voice has also never sounded better, pushed to new heights in the soulful “Magnetic,” the magical “I Dare You” and the ever moving “Miles,” which has been bookended by the most delicious jam from the start of the tour. With three albums to choose from at this point, Phillips has been creating rich set lists that even without my favourite “Man On The Moon” (missing both nights) were full of highlights during the shows this past weekend: from a fiery cover of “Thriller” as the opener in Seattle, to a heartbreaking “What Will Become of Us” in Vancouver, and wonderfully fresh and electrifying performances of “Gone Gone Gone” and “Home” in both shows. Special mention must also be made of the incredible light design for this tour, a beautiful display of candy-coulored set pieces that perfectly accompanied each sound and mood.

The Ballroom Thieves, from Boston, MA, opened both shows and were spellbinding in their own right, with songs reminiscent of old mariner’s tunes and country laments at the same time.

As Phillips has been doing for the entire tour, he performed a couple of songs before the shows as part of a VIP Meet & Greet experience. Listen to the audio of the acoustic shows and take a look at some photos from Seattle, below!

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Phillip Phillips’ tour continues tonight at The Fillmore, in San Francisco, CA and continues until April 14 with a last show in Chattanooga, TN. Visit Phillips’ official site to get your tickets!

All photos and audio by PhillPhillcom.