Photographs by Neil Van.
At its core, live music is a performance. We give money to artists, and they show us the beautiful ideas they’ve crafted. A good performance comes down to balancing and moderating an assault on the audience’s senses. Crafting a show that dazzles visually, pleases audibly, and compels the audience to engage their bodies (whether by dancing, moshing, or just relaxing and letting the music wash over them) is truly an art, and every band does it a little differently.
The Range’s performance was, initially, one of the most bizarre acts I’ve seen in my life. Before he came out, there was no lighting change, no signal that a show was about to begin. In fact, if not for him grabbing a mic and casually stating “Hey guys, I’m the Range, lets do this,” I may not have even noticed him at all. Dressed in a black toque and black t-shirt, he easily could have been mistaken for a roadie. But then he turned the beats on, and it was like being washed away. You know that bass sound that rattles your bones and makes your heart quiver? Yeah. It was EVERYWHERE. He adorably sang every word of every sample he played, and headbanged so hard I was genuinely worried for the health of his neck. As the show went on, you couldn’t help but love him; it was easy to see that he genuinely loved what he was doing, and he didn’t really seem to care whether anyone knew.
Phantogram is an example of a band that has absolutely nailed the visual aspect of the experience. Their show started with a thin black curtain completely blocking the stage from the crowd. While at first it was a bit frustrating (“when will we get to actually see them?” a fellow concert-goer muttered), it promptly became clear that this was an incredibly innovative and engaging device: by shining lights through the curtain and projecting heavily stylized live video, it was almost like watching two shows at once. When the curtain finally came down after a few songs, I was almost a bit disappointed.
Now, when I stress that they’ve nailed the visual aspect, don’t think for a second that they’ve sacrificed anything elsewhere. Musically, their sound was exactly what I expected: ethereal, gritty, dirty, and rough. Sarah Bartel, lead singer/keyboardist/bassist, jumped up and down her vocal range effortlessly, and was rather fashionable to boot. Lead guitarist Josh Carter laid down the fantastic ghostly guitar lines that only he can, and frequently took over lead singing duty. And yet, the visuals remained outstanding throughout. During the song “Destroyer”, Bartel donned a thick, demonic cloak, and performed the haunting tune as smoke billowed out from underneath her garb.
One of the most spectacular, moving moments came immediately after the curtain was re-raised for the encore. While Carter crooned the highly emotional “Barking Dog”, clips from childhood VHS tapes were projected on the curtain, layered with more stylized live video of Josh. It was truly a masterpiece of emotional craftsmanship, as Carter took swigs from his cup between lines like “Hurt people hurt people too/ I’m sorry for what I’ve done”, creating a truly emotional, melancholic experience unlike any I’ve ever seen. Recently, Phantogram went on the podcast Song Exploder to break down their song “You Don’t Get Me High Anymore”. In it, they mention that some of the lyrics were partially inspired by Josh’s persistent dreams about having his teeth fall out. I hope that dude is okay.
The audio-visual assault that was Phantogram was an absolutely welcome one.Their energy and passion is self-evident, and they are true masters of their craft. I would highly recommend seeing them if you get the chance.
