It took over a year of planning, but Phillip Phillips, Luke Bryan, Cole Swindell, the Peach Pickers and DJ Rock put on a massive show of solidarity for Albany, Georgia, after the town and surrounding areas were devastated by twin storms in January 2017.Continue Reading →
Phillip Phillips’ co-headlining tour with Gavin DeGraw started last week with a string of back to back shows that ended on Sunday at the Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle. Continue Reading →
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.
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.
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.
What is that strange magic that makes live music and photography go so well together? Because while live music is ephemeral and forever moving like a flowing river, photography is static and permanent. Perhaps it’s due to photography’s ability to catch a moment, to capture a few magical seconds in a performance and make it last forever so we can go back again and again to feel its spellbinding power.
Phillip Phillips’ summer tour had many of such moments, with shows at some historic venues such as Bethel Woods, where the Woodstock festival took place, and Austin City Limits Live’s Moody Theater in Austin, TX, home of the highly regarded PBS music special. Phillip wrapped his 2017 tour in Bend, OR on September 19. As a recap, here are just a few of our favourite photos from the summer. Here is hoping for more exciting announcements in the coming months, and of course a new tour to promote his new album. Visit our Galleries page to see more tour photos as well as some great fan photos too!
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Featured photo by Danny DeRusso.
Phillip Phillips much awaited summer tour got underway last Friday, July 14th at the Shoreline Amphitheatre in Mountain View, CA. Phillip will be touring the entire summer in support of the Goo Goo Dolls Long Way Home Summer Tour 2017.
As it does for most of the dates on the tour, the ticket for the Shoreline show included an option for a VIP Meet & Greet experience. The whole event was superbly organized. After signing in at the VIP sign in area, people who had tickets for the meet and greet were taken to an area backstage where a tent and a small stage had been set up. As we made our way backstage, we could hear Phillip and the band doing the sound check, which only added to everybody’s excitement. Thankfully, we only had to wait a few minutes before Phillip and Dave Eggar, cellist and musician extraordinaire, made their way to the stage and sat in the two chairs that had been placed for them there. I was pleasantly surprised to see that there was no official radio sponsor and that Phillip and Dave were basically in charge of how the show and Q&A would unfold.
A piece of paper had been taped on the floor in front of Phillip’s chair with a selection of questions from fans – we had been asked to submit them prior to the event online. But Phillip ignored the sheet and simply told us if we had any questions and people just went for it asking whatever came to their mind. In true Phillip fashion he soon had us laughing with his funny answers. He also asked us what we wanted them to play to which someone yelled “Man on the Moon” but he couldn’t play it because he didn’t have his capo. After another suggestion which he also couldn’t play – the capo again, I yelled “Miles,” a new unreleased song that I’m in love with, and that’s what they played finally!
Phillip and Dave Eggar have been playing together for the best part of the last five years and doing these type of acoustic shows must be like second nature for them. The whole event was very informal, relaxed and cool as a result. After playing “Gone Gone Gone,” Phillip answered a few more questions and then took the time to take pictures with everybody. I highly recommend getting these tickets if you can afford them, it was a wonderful experience.
Anybody who has attended a live music event knows that there is no sweeter moment than the second before a show starts, and with the sun shining right on the stage, the warm summer air on our skin and the notes of “Man on the Moon” making their way through the air, that moment on Friday felt like a wonderful dream. It’s no secret that Phillip has faced some difficult times recently and to see him right there on the stage doing what he does best was a beautiful sight for my eyes. As always, it took no time for Phillip and his band to mesmerize us with their energy and musicianship as they did when they launched into the extended outro for “Man on the Moon.”
By now Phillip has enough songs, in addition to an entire catalogue of brilliant covers, to easily put on a two hour plus show. However, being in the opening slot meant that Phillip had to compress his set list to fit 40 minutes, not an easy task for a band that is used to jamming on almost every song. Still, Phillip did a great job mixing many of the hits like “Home,” “Gone Gone Gone” and “Raging Fire,” with his new songs. Of the eight songs he played that night, three were new unreleased ones. All three were also highlights. I don’t know how else to explain it but maybe it’s just that Phillip is feeling these new songs. “Magnetic” was extra sexy, with Phillip taking his time with the lyrics and stretching his vocal range to places we have not heard him go before. New guitarist Jonathan Asperil was really great on it as well, taking over from where the amazing Nate Mercereau left with the song’s guitar solo.
I have already mentioned “Miles” as a new favourite and on Friday I had the pleasure of hearing it twice, once acoustically and once full band. On this tour, both Dave Eggar, and trumpet player Joel Behrman are filling in on keyboard. On “Miles,” the addition of these keys was beautiful and made its yearning tone all the more heartbreaking. I am obsessed.
Other amazing moments of the night were a new jam on “Lead On,” lead, appropriately, by bassist Court Leonard, back with Phillip on this tour, and the show closer “Don’t Tell Me.” Debuted by Phillip last summer, “Don’t Tell Me” is a funky number that helped to display Phillip’s great writing ability – it’s a perfect sing along song – as well as his and his band musical talent. I loved the horns by Joel Behrman at the end and just the overall grooviness of the whole song. Finally, I have to mention that Jeff Randall on drums was great, with a clean style that just gave the right touch to each of the songs.
I would dare to say that this is one of the best, most cohesive shows I have heard from Phillip and band: there was just an overall mellower sound, but really intense, sensuous feeling to the entire set. Though I’m sad to see that regular band members were absent this time, this new configuration sounded wonderful.
They say time flies when you are having fun, and it certainly did last Friday. As I clapped along to “Raging Fire” and “Gone Gone Gone” I looked around and saw the many fans that came expressly to see Phillip — a cute mom and daughter duo, a really nice lady sitting next to me who sang along the whole show, a 92 year-old fan whose bucket list wish is for Phillip to release his new album — and I thought, it’s OK, he will be back and we will be back too. As long as Phillip keeps touring and playing music, we will be there, we will keep coming back — for the magic and for the music.
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Phillip’s tour continues on Thursday, July 20th in Fargo, ND. Click here to see all the upcoming dates! And check out some videos from the Shoreline show as well as the full show audio below!
Featured Photo: Rockin Ryan.
YouTube videos by Priscilla MacRae and Vanessa Sutter, Steve Leigh and PhillPhillcom.
Things are heating up quickly on Phillip Phillips 2017 summer tour. This past week Phillip was back at Summerfest in Milwaukee, WI. The event was a highlight of Phillip’s summer tours in 2013 and 2015, and this time was no different.
To show his appreciation for the festival and the city, Phillip played another new song, an amazing heavy rock number called “My Name.” At this point, Phillip’s fans are at risk of being seriously spoiled but, no matter! Keep them coming is all we say! “My Name” is the sixth song that Phillip has debuted during shows in the last couple of years. To quote Phillip (see video below) we do feel like when you get a lot of birthday presents at the same time and don’t know wich one to open! The range of styles and flavours has been the main theme for all of them, as well as more streamlined simplicity in some of the songs and lyrics. We cannot really wait to see how all these songs come together as a whole in the new album.
Phillip’s official summer tour actually starts next week in Mountain View, CA, where he will play his first show as part of the Goo Goo Dolls’ Long Way Home tour. Still, his concert at Summerfest, and two previous shows in Louisiana and Ohio, have served to introduce a significantly changed band lineup, with new guitarist Jonathan Asperil, new drummer Jeff Randall and Court Leonard back on bass. The brilliant Dave Eggar on cello and keys, and the wonderful Joel Behrman on trumpet and trombone, are back with Phillip, hopefully for duration of the tour.
Check out a Periscope video of Phillip’s new song “My Name” below. Finally, if you don’t have your tickets yet, don’t wait, click here to see all details and dates!
New song tonight!! "My Name" 😍😍😍 @Phillips https://t.co/nKjDwqO4Dd
— Sly (@PhillipPhever) July 6, 2017
Summerfest 2015
Periscope video by Sylvia Gudanowski.
Featured Photo: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel