On October 19th, 20026, Phantogram hit the House of Blues in Orlando, Florida, for a sold-out show on the penultimate stop of the tour. It was a night of big beats and high energy.
The Franco-Mexican duo Los Eclipses kicked off the night with a 45-minute set of songs from the 2024 debut, Eden Sauvage. Eva de Marce sang in a soft croon in English, Spanish, and French over beats from Dan Solo on synth. The songs ranged from slow and brooding to mid-tempo, and the rhythms combined EDM with elements of French and Mexican music.
Then Phantogram brought the energy for a 75-minute set of infectious hooks and massive beats. The duo of Sarah Barthel and Josh Carter was backed by Chris Carhart on drums and Jonathan Mooney on keyboards, bass, and guitar. Carter alternated between guitar and keyboards, often within the same song. Early in Phantogram’s career, Barthel only sang and played keyboards, but since then, she’s added other instruments to her repertoire. Throughout the night, Barthel laid down licks on bass, guitar, and keys while singing passionately. When not playing an instrument, Barthel strutted and danced onstage with unbridled charisma.
Phantogram’s music is perfect for a medium-sized venue like the House of Blues. The skittering trip-hop rhythms and massive beat drops boomed throughout the venue while multicolored strobes lit up the charismatic duo. The set focused on songs from 2024’s Memory of a Day and 2016’s Three, though all five albums were represented.
Carter’s guitarwork shone on the alt-rock hit “You Don’t Get Me High Anymore” and the power ballad “Don’t Move.” Carter and Barthel shared lead vocals on the keyboard ballad “Answer” and the frantic “You’re Mine,” their contrasting voices complementing each other.
The night’s best moments highlighted Phantogram’s dynamic music — the tempo shifts, the jangling guitars switching to distorted power chords, the soft melodies exploding into massive beat drops. The nasty bass hook in “Fall in Love” and the hypnotic grooves of “In a Spiral” were designed to get a thousand people dancing, and they did exactly that.
“I’ve gotten in trouble in the past for dedicating this song to my ex-boyfriend, so instead, this song is dedicated to your ex,” Barthel joked before the band tore through “Cruel World.” Jarring shifts from the soft, crooned verses to the hectic thumping chorus made it a standout performance.
After a lively rendition of crowd-favorite “Black Out Days,” they ended the regular set with a shortened version of “Let Me Down” that focused on the slow, bone-rattling bass. “Let’s party some more,” Barthel said as the band returned to the stage for the encore. “Just a little bit. This is a Sunday.”
For the encore, they finished with the electropop anthem “Come Alive” and another crowd-pleaser, “When I’m Small.” The latter paired Barthel on keys with Carter’s twangy, treble-thick guitar riff as the backdrop for a big sing-along session.
Phantogram is a band that sounds better live than on the albums. No amount of slick studio production can match Barthel and Carter’s captivating stage presence or the thrill of those big trip-hop beats, electronica synths, and rock guitars hitting in person.
