Phantogram and The Antlers played a show last week at the Troubadour to a sold-out crowd. The night was indeed packed and most of the audience seemed to be excited to see both bands.
Phantogram have gained some attention from the release of their first full-length album, and latest release, Eyelid Movies. When they walked onto the stage, it was apparent that they had no drummer (you never know, sometimes bands that don’t usually have a drummer, tour with one). Because of this, I was a bit hesitant of their energy level. Once they started playing, I was absolutely blown away. The stylish electronic outfit managed to get the whole room moving with just the two of them on stage.
In photos, they seem to present this nonchalant demeanor, but live, they are expressive. When singer and keyboardist Sarah Barthel looked out into the crowd in between songs, she was constantly smiling. She seemed genuinely happy just to be on stage to a packed crowd in Los Angeles. During “Running from the Cops”, occasional vocalist and guitarist Josh Carter was gesturing parts of the song while he was singing. For example, when he sang, “I want to shake hands,” he was looking out into the audience and moving his arm as though he were shaking someone’s hand.
There was something constantly captivating about their performance, whether it was in the music or their performance itself. Sarah Barthel rocked the keyboards throughout the set and even though the instrument requires you to stay nearby, she didn’t let it inhibit her movement. Josh Carter was moving around the stage, interacting with the audience while playing guitar. Barthel’s vocals had a depressing kind of undertone, but were balanced by their upbeat music. At times, her voice would be a whisper, as though there was hurt in the fact that she was singing. Then, she would project and a pitch perfect note would come out at just the right time.
Phantogram really got the crowd going, especially when they played “Mouthful of Diamonds” midway through their set, which was a surprising move since it’s the first single from Eyelid Movies. They ended strong with their latest single, “When I’m Small”. The band was constantly active throughout their set and had an awesome light show throughout the evening (it felt like you were stuck in a kaleidoscope).
There were lots of interesting textures in their music and left much of the audience excited with what they will bring in the future. They ended their portion of the night by mentioning that they will be playing with The XX next time they come to LA. Oh yeah, that’s going to be a hot show.
The Antlers closed the night and were excited to be playing in LA again. I recently listened to The Antlers latest full-length album, Hospice and enjoyed it, but I was uncertain of what their live performance would be like. Their album takes you on this journey, it’s pretty serious and in some ways, depressing. This is hard to translate live. The album has lots of different sounds, but live, there isn’t the same luxury of having a balance between sounds. Listening to the album, I felt that the sound itself created this landscape that went along perfectly with the lyrics.
Lead singer and founder of The Antlers, Pete Silberman exuded passion throughout his performance during the night. He has this intimate relationship with the music he’s performing and was able to convey this closeness even in a public setting.
The Antlers seemed so far away, even though we were all in the same room. Again, their music has this serious tone, so it’s hard to try and get the audience collectively involved and active. It felt like everyone was in their own little bubble, thinking about the music and how it impacted them individually.
Although the spotlight was on Silberman, I was shocked to see that many members of the audience were not looking at the lead singer as one may expect, but were looking at the keyboard player, Darby Cicci. He had all these intricate instruments and pedals surrounding him, so it was interesting to see what he was going to use next.
The night was fun and both bands had different tones that could be appreciated in different ways. Phantogram was more of a band you could dance to while The Antlers were more slow-paced and pensive.
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