NOTE: All photos are copyright of Dean Keim 2025
The electronica duo Phantogram brought their Running Through Colors tour back to their old stomping ground of Brooklyn with an epic performance at the newly renovated Brooklyn Paramount. This stunning venue that’s history takes you way back to the Roaring 20’s and played such a major role in the Jazz and R&B scenes all the way up to the rock revolution of the 60’s made for a perfect setting for a historic performance by this band, who manages to beguile me every time I see them play. I first heard their music almost 15 years ago when I would get an earful hearing them rehearse next door to my friend’s studio in Williamsburg, and I found myself falling for their songs before I even knew their name. I first saw them perform a couple years later after their breakout album Eyelid Movies was released, and they were already warming up some new material for their mind-blowing Nightlife EP. Sarah Barthel and Josh Carter started off as an electro-pop duo of multi-instrumentalists originating up the Hudson in Greenwich, New York, but they chiefly made their name right here on the vibrant, pulsating NYC scene. Their sound has always had a swirling feeling of unpredictability, as they pivot between trip hop, electronica, dream pop, R&B, and rock with darkly foreboding atmospheres always looming overhead. Even though they have recently embraced a sunnier California lifestyle, they proved at this show they have not lost any of their darker, more experimental edge. It has been a few years since their last release, so it was great to see them shake out the cobwebs and cook up some new beats to blow us all away with.
Opening the show was a synth-drenched indie rocker Meija, an LA based producer and songwriter by the name of Jamie Sierota. This versatile composer broke with his own rather successful dance alt pop combo Echosmith over 10 years ago to embrace fatherhood, and even though he has been going at it with this new musical persona for the last few years, it feels like he has finally started coming into his own with these new songs from his album last year called There’s Always Something. His synthy interludes were chill, his humor was engaging as he joked with the audience about what the proper way to pronounce this project, and his drummer added a nice back beat to keep the duo songs cooking. But for me, it was Sierota’s guitar skills that were most impressive, as his axe sounds could really take me away.
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Sarah belted out the battle cry of “What the fuck is up, Brooklyn?” during the show, while knowing all too well that this sell out crowd was very much already over the moon, and continuing “You look just as beautiful as you did back in 2019,” which did take me back to the last time I saw Phantogram at Kings Theatre. She often played a big bass guitar, but sometimes she’d jump behind the keys to play some synth-heavy textures. She would then disarm the crowd with many “no fucks to give” struts around the stage with her impossibly towering high heeled boots, while the more chillaxed Josh Carter would sweep you away on guitar while also jumping around to various instruments and even singing the occasional lead vocal here and there. They are currently out on the road in support of their new album Memory of a Day which was released late last year on the Neon Gold label, a record who’s songs they did play a majority of from the opening rip of “Jealousy,” to all the feels of the night’s first encore song of “Glowing”. However, they did find the time to play some of their old hits like “Mouthful of Diamonds,” “Fall in Love,” “You Don’t Get Me High Anymore,” “Black Out Days,” and my personal favorite of “When I’m Small” as the show’s closer. This band brings you back to time when dance and rock had a seamless convergence, and I’m hoping they keep meeting with all my senses at every show I see of theirs.
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