This Saturday, October 18th, Phantogram played the first of two sold out shows at Union Transfer. For their opener, they offered up Lia Ices, a performer originally from Connecticut who released her first album in 2008. Though still relatively unknown, Ices has already released three studio albums, the last of which was released in September of this year. Despite having been in the business for some time, she really came to prominence after one of her songs was featured in an episode of Girls.

That being said, Lia Ices did her best to entertain the crowd at Union Transfer on Saturday night, but it was clear that many in attendance were not familiar with her work. In fact, throughout much of her set the venue remained pretty empty. But by the headliners Phantogram took the stage, the venue was packed, living up to it’s sold-out proclamations. From their first song, “Nothing But Trouble” until their last song “When I’m Small,” Phantogram did an excellent job of keeping the crowd engaged despite seemingly blowing through their well-crafted set. Sarah Barthel and Josh Carter have been at this for a while now and definitely know how to entertain an audience. From their vocals, to their production, to the special lightening effects that Union Transfer sign’s promised would be “awesome,” Phantogram managed to pull off a stellar performance for their early show on Saturday night.

Just three songs into their set, Barthel and Carter pulled out when of their bigger hits, getting the crowd pumped with “Black Out Days.” And then it was right into “Turning Into Stone,” a song from their Nightlife EP. They expertly played a mix of songs covering their discography. But visually, the highlight of the show was certainly when Barthel walked off stage for a costume change only to emerge as a human disco ball. As they performed “Bill Murray,” lights emanated off of her clock of mirrors, providing a spectacle of lights nearly as mesmerizing as the track itself. And then it was time to let Carter shine with the song “I Don’t Blame You.”

Throughout the set, they kept the chit chat to a minimum, which was fine with the crowd, as they were clearly there for the music. But at one point, Sarah Barthel stopped to reminisce about their very first performance in Philly at M Room. She said at the time, they were surprised that anyone would show up, let alone the ten people who came out to see them perform. “And they fucking brought it,” she said of her first Philly crowd. And the city continues to bring it each and every time Phantogram makes their way back to our area, helping them to sell out two nights in a row this time around.

The setlist wrapped up with another high energy song “Fall in Love,” followed by “Howling at the Moon,” another track from their newest album, Voices. The last song of the set was “When I’m Small,” a song off of the duo’s debut album, Eyelid Movies which was released back in 2009. The duo of course came back out for an encore, treating the audience to “Mouthful of Diamonds.” Josh Carter told the crowd, “I don’t talk a lot, but you guys are fucking awesome. I feel so blessed to be out here with you tonight. Ok. That’s it.” And then it was time for the last song of the night, “Celebrating Nothing.” Towards the end of her performance, Sarah Barthel got emotional, breaking down in tears as she sang the haunting words to the song. Repeating, “I’ve got the feeling we’re gonna die,” she appeared visibly moved by the lyrics. And it was all the audience could to do to cheer her on and offer their support for an amazing performance.