Last fall, electronic duo Phantogram released Memory of a Day, the band’s fifth studio album, via Neon Gold, heralding an accompanying North American tour that kicked off early this year. That tour recently arrived at The Fillmore Silver Spring, where Phantogram’s personal magnetism and musical muscle were on full display.
Phantogram defy easy categorization. The band’s psychedelic foundation leans into dreampop but with an edge. They like heavy music, and they like guitars. Their tour merch imagery might lead you to believe they are a metal band — the tour poster features a skeleton with laser beams shooting out of its eyes and the secondary t-shirt depicts a naked woman on her knees with a heart in her hands. (The woman in question, on the “It Wasn’t Meant to Be” t-shirt, also bears a resemblance to Phantogram’s Sarah Barthel.)
In concert, too, Phantogram embraced deep lights and rolling fog, painting their surface appearance with that of a band that is about to rock your face off. And rock they do: Phantogram opened their show at The Fillmore Silver Spring on Feb. 4 with “Jealousy” from the new album — and it boomed from the start, presenting the band with a sonic assault. As the song settles into its rhythm, however, the music complements the alluring vocal of frontwoman Sarah Barthel, who kicked up her heels and sang breathily and powerfully into her microphone.
At the concert’s midpoint, Phantogram played “Attaway,” which Josh Carter (vocals, guitar, synths) described as his favorite song from the new album. That song began gently, with soft notes roiling under Sarah’s pleasant voice, before the beat dropped and it exploded into a crescendo.
Watch the official visualizer for “Attaway” by Phantogram on YouTube:
At The Fillmore Silver Spring, the core Phantogram duo played to their core strengths: Sarah prowled the stage in high boots with leopard print tights, growling with sex kitten verve. Multi-instrumentalist Josh rotated from stage right to the rear stage, jamming on his guitar and pulling notes out of his synthesizer all while accompanying Sarah on vocals. They were backed by their longtime drummer Chris Carhart, who was very good and very focused. The touring quartet was complete with a backing keyboardist whose name I don’t have.
In line with Phantogram’s harder edge, Sarah remained at the front of the stage, often playing an electric bass, the defining instrument of the new album. She has spoken in interviews how she shifted to bass from keyboards for a big sound. It suited her at The Fillmore Silver Spring, giving her freedom to dance and move and even to disappear into darkness when the lights strobed out.
As fans clamored for more, Phantogram gave them a dose of Eyelid Movies (2010), their debut full-length album. They played the album’s “Mouthful of Diamonds” and “You Are the Ocean” in the middle of the pack and played the always popular “When I’m Small” as the last song of their encore.
Watch the official music video for “When I’m Small” by Phantogram on YouTube:
Other concert highlights included an early appearance of “Fall in Love” from sophomore album Voices (2014), where the band brought the lights up to be fully visible for the first time, an encore starter “Glowing” from 2020’s Ceremony. Both songs spotlight Phantogram’s lyrical edge, where they’ve often looked in the darker corners of the soul to explore feelings of being alive.
On their Running Through Colors Tour at The Fillmore Silver Spring, Phantogram continued to forge their own identity, defying expectations while flexing their musical muscle. Wikipedia says they describe their own music as “street beat psych pop,” and I really cannot get that very apt description out of my head!
Catch Phantogram on tour near you!
Here are some photos of Phantogram performing at The Fillmore Silver Spring on Feb. 4, 2025. All pictures by Mickey McCarter.
