Seeing Phantogram play a full live show for the first time in years was definitely my most anticipated show of the year and it did NOT disappoint.
Yes, seeing them open for Queens of the Stone Age last year was an unsuspecting treat, but nothing beats seeing them kill a headlining show. And with them opening for Kings of Leon on their current tour, I was so, so happy that Cleveland made the short list of headlining shows they squeezed in along the way. Sarah herself said it’s been a while since they’ve hit up Cleveland, and it really has been! In fact, I don’t know if any of the times I’ve seen them have been in the Land. They also seemed genuinely tickled by the crowd, who was totally into it. Of course, as a longtime fan I was also totally into it.
In fact, I made my sister leave early so we could secure a front row spot. We did, though off to the side a little bit, but all of the standing was totally worth it. As a short person it was so nice to not have to either find a space to look between people or crane my neck to get a decent view. Plus, I would guarantee that almost anyone who stood behind me could see over my head easy. This is the third time I’ve managed to score a front row spot for these guys and it’s so, so worth it every time.
Though they have a new album coming out at the end of the month, this tour isn’t really in support of that, although we did get two of the new singles along with a new track that hasn’t been introduced before. Yay Cleveland! We got to hear “Happy Again” and “All a Mystery” from the upcoming album, and apparently, according to the internet, the new, unreleased track is called “Attaway.” That could totally be made up, but I’m going with it for now. It was also nice to hear some songs from Ceremony since it never got a proper tour thanks to being released in March of 2020. Still, it’s not my favorite record, so I’m glad the setlist wasn’t stuffed with songs off of it. “Mr. Impossible” goes pretty hard, though.
Opening the show with “Don’t Move” was a dream and I’ll probably cry the day this song falls off the setlist. Likewise, it was nice to hear songs off of my favorite album of theirs, Three, with “Run Run Blood” being absolutely terrific. I think they’d be amiss to never play “Black Out Days” and “Fall in Love,” so those are always nice to hear. And though it is an incredible song, I still just don’t associate “When I’m Small” as being their biggest hit from Eyelid Movies, but I know I’m wrong about that. In a perfect world, “Mouthful of Diamonds,” “Calling All,” “My Only Friend,” and “Dear God” would have also been on this setlist, but I’m holing out hope for a future tour.
Given how amazing this show was and the upcoming release of their fifth studio album, (Memory of a Day), I would suspect we will get a full-fledged tour announcement by the beginning of the year. And I’m praying that they stop nearby.
