Show Review: Phantogram @ The Mohawk

The night before, I joined Nathan for Modest Mouse. The post-FFF6 hangover lingered and that show did not help. I am officially jaded.

Phantogram is up next after Reptar unleashed a silly dance party. I am feeling better. The first bass notes from “Don’t Move” kick in after the stage filling intro music. The lights jump. They move. They create. I was pulled in. I was grinning uncontrollably.

Head past for more on the set and plenty of pics.

Before I get carried away talking about Phantogram, I have to thank Reptar. Their energy is amazing. You can be completely apathetic to their sound, their kind of music, but up on that stage they are infectious. The enthusiasm spreads. When a mic cable failed, no panic was seen, just a self-service stagehand move by the front man to commandeer a mic from the keyboards. These guys from Athens are young, but show the polish gained from touring with Cults, Foster the People and now Phantogram as well as the hitting spots on the festival circuit playing Lollapalooza and ACL.

Back to Phantogram. I was hoping for more than a night of blue lights at the Mohawk and luckily, they brought serious illumination. Judging by how packed it was early and the number of people looking for tix outside, the late sell out was a surprise for many expecting to breeze in on a Wednesday.

Their set was just what I needed. It sounded amazing. Added richness was achieved by Sarah Barthel and Josh Carter bringing along a drummer Tim Oakley. It frees up some programming duties and the organic nature of live drums on top of the loops was welcomed.

As mentioned, “Don’t Move” from the Nightlife EP started things off. In seeing them again, some songs from Eyelid Movies, songs that weren’t in heavy rotation, have taken new life in my playlists, songs like “Running From the Cops” and “Bloody Palms”. The lighter tracks gave relief to building tension, “As Far As I Can See”, “16 Years” and “Turning Into Stone” in particular. Naturally, “Mouthful of Diamonds” and “When I’m Small” dominated the crowd, the latter being the pre-encore send off. The show ended with the space filling “Nightlife” and closed by “All Dried Up.”

I needed that.

Pics, check em all out at the photo site…