For every musician there’s that moment when you first receive a musical instrument, mic, or mixer that you automatically envision yourself as a rockstar.  The roar of the crowd, the VMAs, the endless groupie sex… For most of us, it becomes a faded dream and for others a dream come true.  But there are those that live the dream and sound like a nightmare.  And somehow, those are the ones that end up on MTV Cribs and marry movie stars.  So when Phantogram finishes up the their set and the audience member (we’ll call him Stu) standing next to me says, “Looks like someone got a keyboard for Christmas from mommy and daddy,” you could tell audience was going to be more critical than I was.

It’s not that Phantogram was bad, they just weren’t inspiring.  My nine year old cousin got a guitar for his birthday and when he strummed away some disjointed chords, it was almost the same feeling.  I couldn’t turn away but I couldn’t wait until it was over.  It was awkward watching both members of Phantogram fiddle with the effects mixer between every song.  Not exactly a polished performance.  (Hint: There’s usually a button that you can preprogram your beats.)  There seemed to be no versatility in their set other than distracting strobe lights and excessive use of the vocal distortion and echo effect.   Kind of like a house party DJ who happens to be somebody’s unemployed younger brother.  Okay, we get it, you have a bunch of effect buttons.

But to get to the core talent of the duo, Sarah Barthel on lead vocals and keys seemed to carry the show.  Minus out the most of the techno fu-fu, her voice was a nice light and airy flow amongst the drab melodramatic music.  She was the shiny light of hope that the show wasn’t so unbearable.  But when Josh Carter on guitar began to belt away a chorus, the reason became evident for the vocal manipulation.  “Oh damn, just let her do the singing,” said another audience member behind me.  Ouch, I won’t go into detail there but the phrase “seen more talent playing Beatles Rockband” was mentioned.  Soon enough they did end their set with their MySpace track “Running From the Cops,” when Stu punches out, “Sneaker Pimps called, they want there sound back.”  Sadly, I would have to agree.

Opening for an established group and playing in a music venue like House of Blues may have been britches too big for Phantogram.  I would probably appreciate their emotronic sound better in a smaller club… a very dark, smaller club… with a drop of X to ensure enjoyment.  And, I’ll make sure Stu Pidas takes two.