Phantogram, Sports @ Bug Jar

I caught less than 15m of their set last year opening for Yeasayer, but that was all Phantogram needed to hook me. I left intrigued, interested, yearning for more. After an unfortunate cancellation a couple of months ago, they were finally back. My only gripe with them, and many bands like them, was the lack of a live drummer. There is no machine that can fully replace what a real live drummer brings to the table. Especially a good one. So I was definitely excited to see that they brought along a drummer to join them this time. And did it help? You bet your sweet ass it did. They turned from a cute electro-pop duo into a smoke-filled fist-pumping dance rock party band. There was a lot of music going on in the city that night and I was slightly worried I was making the wrong choice. Friends were elsewhere, but I stubbornly stuck it out for these guys. And my expectations were exceeded, Phantogram put on one hell of a show, they have entered the next level. Here's to hoping the drummer becomes permanent and a trio is born.

Local hype band Sports opened with their tight Cars/Elvis Costello/Vampire Weekend-esque pop rock tunes. Glad to finally catch these guys. Other than having the worst Google-era band name possible, these guys and gal have a ton of potential, hoping to catch a lot more of them in the future.