This summer, nothing was bigger than the Paris Olympics. The world games — held over 17 days from late July to last Sunday's closing ceremony — set all kinds of records. They earned an average US daily viewership of 30.6 million, an 82% jump from the 2021 Tokyo Games, and created global stars out of some of the top athletes on the planet.
The Paris Games culminated in this star-studded Closing Ceremony, which included a massive headline performance by French band Phoenix at the iconic Stade de France, with on-stage assistance from Air, Vampire Weekend's Ezra Koenig and French producer Kavinsky, among others. The Closing Ceremony attracted more than 20 million viewers in the US alone, and its impact led to a huge increase in streams and sales for Phoenix and Kavinsky in particular: streams for Phoenix's catalog increased by 86% in the previous week after show, while Kavinsky's “Nightcall” broke the record for most Shazams in a day and saw its streams increase by 74%.
But it was also a huge showcase for one of the most successful bands of the last few decades and one of the top French bands of all time — and it helps their manager, C3's Matt Sandyearn his title Bulletin board's Executive of the Week. Here, Sadie talks about all the work that went into the show behind the scenes, the platform of the show in front of around 800 million people worldwide and what it means to the band. “There have been so many times over the years that we – the management team and Branco, Christian, Thomas and Deck in the band – have worked very, very closely to realize their special vision,” says Sadie. “Performing at the Olympics was a real highlight of Phoenix's career and I'm thrilled to have been a part of it.”
This week, Phoenix performed in Paris for the Olympics Closing Ceremony, a huge event for the band and the country. How did that come together and what key decisions did you make to help it happen?
Once Paris was awarded the 2024 Olympic Games in 2017, we immediately identified the opportunity internally. It made perfect sense that a group of international standing, close to and largely based in Paris, would have a place in the Olympics. The opening and closing ceremonies were definitely at the top of the list.
Clearly, the Olympic team was not at the stage of selecting the acts for the ceremonies in 2017, but about two years ago, together with my counterpart in France, Laurence Mullerand the band's agent in France, Sophie Bijaoui from Corida, we identified what the powers were and started the discussions. There was great persistence from everyone in the team. Meanwhile, last year we scheduled the band's tour to keep them in Europe this summer, leaving gaps in the schedule where the Opening and Closing Ceremonies were. This allowed for the required flexibility should the call come, which it eventually did.
What are the considerations when performing an act at an event as prestigious as the Closing Ceremony? Was there any hesitation or was it an automatic yes?
How do you say no? Given the scale of the opportunity and the very natural connection of being a French band from the region, it was as close to an automatic yes as one can get. In our conversations with the Olympic team, we were immediately given a lot of independence in building their set — there was just a commitment that the show had to feel like a party for the athletes and that we had 15-17 minutes to play with them. . Knowing that the band would be playing to a global audience of around 800 million, the priority for us was to put together a show that would have the potential to attract people who had never heard of Phoenix before and remind those who had why. went on to be one of the most beloved artists of the past 20 years. We immediately felt that the conditions of the set given to us by the Olympics meant that this was not unreasonable.
How did you prepare for this differently than any other gig?
Almost every aspect of this show required preparations that were different from a normal band show. It was very non-stop from myself, Laurence and the rest of the team from the moment we got the green light.
The band has never played this kind of medley set before, so this was a challenge in itself. They knew they wanted to have some guests, so identifying them, getting them on board, and dealing with the logistical gymnastics was quite a challenge for everyone. For the band, having the acts they wanted to join them in Air, Kavinsky, Angele, Vampire Weekend's Ezra Koenig and VannDa, was a very different approach to a regular show, but one they enjoyed.
If you've seen them play before, you'll know that the band has always put a heavy emphasis on production in their live shows. They usually had the control and time to refine it into something very special. We had none of those luxuries here. They just told us, “You're going to play on a stage in the middle of the field that's shaped like the world map — you're going to play in Africa.” We worked closely with the team to create a script that would work for the band and their guest performers. Playing in a stadium is very different to a festival show or the sheds the band played in during their recent US gig with Beck, but credit to our brilliant lighting designer Pierre Claude a huge scale of production elements to work with. His efforts to put things together were truly herculean.
We've done a lot of live streams — from festivals and most recently with Air from the roof of Charles De Gaulle Airport in Paris, but this was on a completely different scale, with over 80 cameras in the stadium capturing the show. We also had no control over the direction during the live stream. Lawrence brought as a solution David Ctiborsky from Blogotheque, who had worked closely with the band on various live streams, to ensure that the various 'moments' were captured effectively, advising the team from the Olympics to capture it. We were also aware that this was being broadcast around the world via local broadcasters, so talking about each of the songs and artists involved was critical to the promotion.
Outside of the show itself, its viewing was very different from any other show. Instead of the usual heavy promotion on a show, news of their performance was technically embargoed until the last minute, despite the odd leak here and there. That meant reacting to the media after the fact, which we were prepared to do through our PR — Jen Appel of The Oriel and Nathalie Ridard of Ephelide — the digital marketing team, Dream Team, and the team at C3 Management.
With the band appearing on stage with Kavinsky and Air, and the closing ceremony also featuring a medley of Justice songs, what does it all say about the importance of electronic music in French culture?
To their credit, by selecting artists from the 'French Touch' movement, the creative team behind Closing Ceremony identified something very special that France brought to the world. Daft Punk, Air, Phoenix, Justice and many more have had a huge, and sometimes unknown, impact on music worldwide, not just in the electronic space. In my opinion, it is one of the country's greatest cultural exports today. His prominence at the ceremony really allowed them to celebrate something uniquely French but also globally relevant and ultimately timeless.
Where does a show like this put the band in terms of their next moves? How do they seize the moment?
Clearly this was a huge turning point for the band worldwide. Every metric has shown that this week, specifically seven of the top 11 songs on Shazam this week are from their set, including Kavinsky's “Nightcall” getting the most Shazams of any song in one day ever. We've seen serious growth in social media and streaming numbers alongside massive media coverage. There's no doubt that a huge number of people discovered the band and I'm sure many others enjoyed reminiscing about some of their favorite songs from the past two decades. The show has already opened many doors and we are still seeing the impact in real time.
More than anything, though, after more than a decade as one of the band's managers, I'm proud of them for always being open to new challenges that push us all creatively and beyond. There have been so many times over the years that we – the management team and Branco, Christian, Thomas and Deck in the band – have worked very, very closely to realize their special vision. The performance at the Olympics was a real highlight of Phoenix's career and I'm thrilled to have been a part of it.
