In an age where almost every piece of historical information is available at our fingertips, Thomas Mars and Laurent Brancowitz of the French band Phoenix surprise me with a fact that doesn't seem to exist anywhere on the internet.
"One of our first shows was actually in Japan," Mars says, backstage at the Field Trip festival in Toronto. "(It was our) second show as Phoenix. We had two shows: one in Sapporo and one in Tokyo."
Before I can react, Brancowitz takes the words from my mouth. "Isn't that crazy? Back then the band's establishment was very, very fragile. The foundation was nonexistent."