Concert Review: Phantoms Make Music Science At Mercury Lounge

Phantoms blew me away at their Mercury Lounge live set. The LA duo show that electronica is more than watching a person press buttons on a logic board; it is watching a person make musical science.
Phantoms – Pulling Me In (Official Video)

With screened lights blasting behind them with “lava-lamped” shapes, Vinnie & Kyle, Phantoms, looked like two chemists testing the sonic measures and mixtures that cure boredom. Their show was pure bounce and bliss, and so purely aimed at escapism. Songs such as “Just A Feeling”, “Pull You In”, and “Need You Closer” were scintillating electric. For all their jolting beats, their message was clear: “I want you tonight!”. Let’s be honest! The club is all about fun with friends, lovers, and the potential for both. Thus, the way they played as if love and passion were shooting through their veins with every pressed button and tapped key, left the crowd in a dance hypnosis. For being in tight quarters, people were doing full-on choreography, including Phantoms. Every opportunity they had to sing, they did so with an inflamed joy; as if happiness was as combustible as a gasoline tank. Seeing that type of energy only made people dance harder. After all, who wants to disappoint a high energy artist? Might as well join them!
Phantoms – Just A Feeling ft. Vérité (Official Music Video)

I have mentioned that it is NOT easy to perform when you have a booth or key/logic-board in front of you. Thus, I had to admire Vinnie and Kyle brazened attempt to show no instrument or rhythm block them from what is most important: you. Hence, their constant motion in their boxed in “synth-rooms” made them appear like they were doing something big, important, and intelligent. Like Victor and Igor they were making and reviving life, but this time it did not result in Frankenstein. This time it resulted on a room full of NYC’ers feeling like happiness began and ended in the dark, back-room called Mercury Lounge. For More Information On Phantoms Click Here.