Phantogram electrifies sold out Palace Theatre in St. Paul

Let’s turn this motherfucker out!

Phantogram rocked the newly opened Palace Theatre in St. Paul with a skull-rattling performance heavy on tunes from their 2016 release Three. As the light of the full Virgo moon illuminated the snow flying outside, the duo of Sarah Barthel and Josh Carter lit a fire in the Palace Theatre that burned through their entire set and the capacity crowd responded with fury. Strobe-heavy lights and a two-tiered stage setup brought a nice visual aspect to backup the music, especially when viewed from the middle of the balcony.

As the show went on, it increasingly got better before finally culminating with the recent hit single “You Don’t Get Me High Anymore“. Singer Sarah Barthel yelled “Let’s turn this motherfucker out!” when it started, and everyone in the crowd responded. It was a great ending to a fantastic performance.

Experienced shoe-gazers The Veldt opened the night. The North Carolina band mixed in dark emotional songs with soul and it sounded pretty damn good.

Side note: Palace Theatre in St. Paul is just the venue the Twin Cities needed. While its renovation work was patched together on a light budget, the theater sounds fantastic and offers an array of great sight lines on both the general admission floor and the seated balcony. Operated by First Avenue, it reminded me very much of the old days at that club — where its charm was in how grungy it was. Although getting out of the nearby Lawson parking ramp after the show was a bit miserable, I think most people will love seeing concerts at the Palace Theatre in St. Paul.

Phantogram

The Veldt