Phoenix provided most of the music during the Olympic closing ceremony in Paris on Sunday, but the band was originally booked to do the opening ceremony.
Singer Thomas Mars told Vulture that organizers reached out to them just three weeks ago about playing the opening ceremony, and had come up with a very special place to play.
Mars said, "They thought of putting us on the rooftop of the Louvre for a performance. We recorded our last album, Alpha Zulu, in the Louvre. But there were bees on the roof. People were concerned about the bees. There were a lot of hives to harvest honey. These are the things you don’t know about Paris. There are certain places that contain a whole ecosystem of bees."
Mars admitted that he felt the pressure before going on in front of worldwide audience. "You never know what the future holds, but this is for sure the most make-in-or-break-it moment we’ve had as a band. We’ve never had more pressure or people watching us. But it still, somehow, felt like a club show. We were most nervous that it would be sterile and cold, but the athletes turned this into a joyful moment."