Electro rock, dream pop, electronica, whatever you want to call it, Phantogram have enjoyed a slow burn over the past decade to emerge as a supernova in 2016. The stars are truly aligned for the Greenwhich, New York based duo of Josh Carter (vocals, guitars) and Sarah Barthel (vocals, keyboards). A brilliant new record simply titled Three finds them at the top of their game with some of their best songwriting to date.
While their early material was very Cocteau Twins-esque, Phantogram continue to evolve their sound into something much more organic. I would guess that the years of touring and expansion of the live band have played a role in achieving a much more holistic view of songwriting. This was the first time that I’ve seen the band live and I would say that they have virtually perfected the live show.
The House of Blues in Boston is such a fantastic venue. Even when it’s sold out it’s not miserable like many other venues that continue to jam people in at capacity. The show opened up with a sort of semi-transparent black screen with the band lit up as silhouettes projected to the crowd. Although I feel like I’ve seen this before, it really added an element of mystique, and when the curtain finally dropped for song number four, Phantogram were locked and loaded.
I can’t even imagine the complexities that it takes to pull off a show of this magnitude with so many layers and atmospheric electro-powered grooves, but they did it exceptionally well and quite frankly made it look elegant and easy.
Highlights from the set included a stellar version of the classic “Don’t Move” along with “You’re Mine” and “You Don’t Get Me High Anymore” from the new album, and this little gem of a song hidden near the end of the set called “Destroyer” which was like a huge emotional punch to the face.
Great show, fantastic set, passionate crowd; all the elements of an epic show. I really enjoyed this one. Get the new record, go see the show, tell someone about it. That’s the new formula for this type of band to succeed.
Check out hi-res photos from the show in the gallery here.
