Last night in Toronto, Canada, Phantogram returned four months after they last touched down for their tour in support of Kings of Leon. Between tours, the duo dropped a new album, the brilliant Memory of a Day, and are now just over half way through a massive run of dates across North America.
The show came as Toronto battled a massive snowstorm. Nonetheless, a sold out crowd came out to dance with around 1,500 fellow fans of the New York duo.
Opening up the show were Meija. A solo project of Los Angeles artist Jamie Sierota, but performing here as a duo, the mix of guitars, synth and drums sounded bigger than they do on record. Though I’m only going off of the 2019 single “Buttons” here, which closed out the night.
I wrote down the note “a poppier Bright Eyes?” during the set, and I don’t think that’s an unfounded claim. There’s certainly some Oberst comparisons to be made. All in all, they were a vibe, and I also loved the track “Magic“, a more recent single.
Thirty minutes later, Phantogram hit the stage to rapturous applause, having also doubled their live ensemble. Taking their musicality to another level, founding members Sarah Barthel and Josh Carter are joined Chris Carhart on drums and Jonathan Mooney on synth(s) and guitar(s).
The night opened with “Jealousy”, a brilliant track on the new album. I melted from those synth notes from the moment they hit the stage. From there, they went straight into one of their oldest tracks, “Don’t Move”, from their 2011 EP Nightlife. And such was how the night continued – a perfect mix of old and new.
Memory of a Day took over about half of the set, and with good reason. They say themselves that it’s “the best album we’ve ever made”, and while the audience (and yours truly) are still getting to know the latest material, it does indeed shine live. “All A Mystery” was worth the price of admission alone.
I also appreciated the additions they made to their earlier material – longer lead-ins, surprising pauses and extra beats were thrown in to some tracks that added to the vibrancy of the set as a whole. In that respect, “Run Run Blood” may have been the highlight of the entire night, filling the room with an overdose of dopamine. God I love that song.
As tends to happen at a Phantogram show, the group were supported by a fantastic light show. This was given ample impact thanks to a mirror that sat at the back of the stage; which it itself had lights shining through it. The band was situated on a riser, while vocals were done a step down and closer to the front of the stage – which worked well, especially with the added lighting effects of this particular set up.
Take the fantastic new tracks, add their impressive musicality, incredible vocals and all around dopamine-inducing music library, and there’s no question that Phantogram put on a great show. But this was without question the best I’ve ever heard them. Although it’s been a minute – has it really been eight years since they last toured Australia?
Looking at the setlist from other nights on this tour, the show was pretty much identical to how they’ve been running it across North America. The notable exception was the one song encore, which saw us miss “Glowing” and “You Don’t Get Me High Anymore” which has appeared on other set lists. Maybe they had to finish up a bit early because of the storm?
But there was no shame in ending the night with one of their best tracks, “When I’m Small”. Led by Sarah’s incredible vocals, the song helped send everyone into the downpour of snow with a huge grin on their faces. And for this writer, the eager anticipation of a future Phantogram set – hopefully without almost a decade between drinks this time around.
SETLIST
Jealousy
Don’t Move
Fall in Love
Feedback Invisible
Pedestal
It Wasn’t Meant to Be
Mouthful of Diamonds
Run Run Blood
Attaway
You Are the Ocean
Answer
All a Mystery
Happy Again
Black Out Days
Come Alive
Encore:
When I’m Small
FOUR AND A HALF STARS (OUT OF FIVE)
To see the remaining tour dates, and to listen to the new record, head to phantogram.com.
The author attended the sold out show at the Danforth Music Hall on 12th February 2025.
Photos by Anthony Smith. See his full gallery HERE.
