Vampire Weekend’s Ezra Koenig Joins Phoenix For Energetic Collaboration At Just Like Heaven

Phoenix was among the top-billed performers at the Just Like Heaven Festival on Saturday at Brookside at The Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California. The band from Versailles, France welcomed Vampire Weekend frontman Ezra Koenig to help close out their set.

Just Like Heaven concluded a three-night West Coast stint for Phoenix following a South American festival run. After noting that the band is recording a new album but might not return to the U.S. for a “another few years, maybe less” Phoenix frontman Thomas Mars said, “Now that I’ve bummed you out, there’s some cheering up coming so you’ll see.”

The band then jumped into “Tonight” off their most recent studio album, 2022’s Alpha Zulu. Ezra Koenig, who guested on the studio version of “Tonight,” emerged after the first hook. Mars also recently sat-in with Vampire Weekend during their eclipse concert in Austin. The guest swap continued at Just Like Heaven with Koenig jumping in to trade lines with Mars. Watch Phoenix and Ezra Koenig on “Tonight” below:

Ezra also added guitar and vocals to “1901,” off Phoenix’s 2009 Grammy-winning album Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix, and stuck around for set-closer, “Identical (Reprise).” Check out the “1901” performance:

Phoenix launched their set with a Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix cut, “Lisztomania.” The band also offered tracks from their 2000 debut album United including “Too Young,” “If I Ever Feel Better” and “Funky Squaredance.”

Phoenix returns to Europe for more festivals this summer. Check out their tour routing with ticket info below.