The lead up to the recent Miracle On Tremont show at the Orpheum found us chasing pop stars around Boston, blindsiding them with stupid questions and cornering ‘em for their precious insights. Two of our hometown Passion bros dropped truth on “homo-erotic frat boy” fans, Phoenix chalked their success up to a serious list of studio snafus and the drummer in Spoon regurgitated PR dribble about a “dirty” new album.

The end of the year is often regarded (among writerly types, anyway) as a time for looking back. But it's also a time when we look forward to what lies ahead of us. And one of the surest bets for 2010? That'd be Transference, the forthcoming record from SPOON, who've been pretty reliable in the past. We don't have video of any of the new songs they performed at WFNX's Miracle on Tremont Street concert at the Orpheum last week, but instead, we've got old favorite "The Way We Get By."

These guys again? Well, what can we say - it's been a hell of a year for PASSION PIT, and not to brag or anything, but we kind of saw it coming. Okay, fine, it wasn't exactly a difficult prediction to make: they won "Best New Act" in our Best Music Poll last year (earning themselves a spot in that year's concert), they became a blog sensation, and they packed venues around town all before their full-length debut, the delightful Manners, had even leaked in full.

It is still 2009 for a few weeks, and so WFNX continues in its quest to get some thoughts on the best music of this decade from every band who passes through town, much like they did with Metric and Sonic Youth. And with Miracle on Tremont Street - possibly the biggest WFNX show since, what, Green Day at the Hatch Shell? - happening last week, they had a golden opportunity to speak to two bands who've had huge years.

1. jaysvoboda http://twitvid.com/85325 - Phoenix. Holy shit. 05 Dec 2009 from API
2. kelseyrkennedy Spoon just made me ridiculously happy. Like, I can't even begin to put it into words. 05 Dec 2009 from txt
3. codydesjardins Passion Pit/Phoenix/Spoon...the concert was simply incredible, yay for good local radio stations.

In order to win tickets to today's Phoenix show, readers friended us on Facebook and posted both their favorite Phoenix song and Phoenix article on our wall. Invites have been sent to the winners of the show invites -- we're sorry to those who weren't picked, but a video of today's set will be up on the site in the coming week.

On night one of the sold-out WFNX "Miracle on Tremont Street," the OTD cams were lodged alongside the Sandbox dudes in what felt like the hottest, tinyest dressing room in Boston. Fletcher managed not to puke anybody, Special Ed spilled our Red Bull, and we met Rush's manager -- not to mention Geddy Lee's nephew. More on him and his band in a few, as well as a dispatch from the Airborne Toxic Event kids.