Kings of Leon & Phantogram – Mann Center – Union Transfer – Philadelphia (A PopEntertainment.com Concert Review)

Kings of Leon & Phantogram – Mann Center – Union Transfer – Philadelphia, PA – September 23, 2024

Can we please have fun, Philly?

Phantogram is an indie pop duo consisting of Sarah Barthel and Josh Carter. They formed in 2007, building sounds of electric street rock, mixed with dreamy pop music. Their debut album, Eyelid Movies, was released in 2010, creating indie hits like “When I’m Small.” Other album releases include Voices in 2014, Three in 2016 and Ceremony in 2020. These days, the duo can be found on tour, and they have recently released two new singles for their upcoming album Memory of a Day, due for release in mid-October 2024.

Phantogram started the night opening up for the Kings of Leon. Their set began with their song “Don’t Move,” from their 2011 EP, “Nightlife.” As soon as the first few notes of the song hit, the crowd immediately started cheering out of excitement, all while the lights flashed back and forth. Just like how the term “phantogram” is a form of an optical illusion, the band portrayed that with all of the strobe lights and colorful visions during their set.

Singer Sarah Barthel played keys and gave an ethereal intro to the song “Cruel World,” but once that chorus change dropped, she jumped around stage dancing and whipping her hair side to side while holding the mic. Many of Phantogram’s songs tend to jump from this dreamy, spacy vibe over to this electric energy-filled techno pop. Although this show was on a Monday and they were the opener, the duo did not disappoint with the energy that they brought on stage, along with the full crowd that showed up to dance and sing with them during their set. Phantogram was the perfect opener to pop off the energy for the rest of the night!

Next up were headliners Kings of Leon, a family band formed in 1999, consisting of brothers Caleb, Nathan, and Jared Followill, and cousin Matthew Followill. Their sound has grown over the years with each album, but their Southern garage rock roots still remain true, as well as tying some blues energy into their music. Kings of Leon gained some traction with their debut EP released in 2003 called "Holy Roller Novocain”. Shortly after, they released their album Youth and Young Manhood.

Other album releases include Aha Shake Heartbreak in 2004, Because of the Times in 2007, Only By The Night in 2008, which has hits “Sex on Fire” and “Use Somebody” that became instant mainstream radio hits. Kings of Leon released multiple albums after this, including Come Around Sundown (2010), Mechanical Bull (2013), and When You See Yourself (2021). Can We Please Have Fun? is the band’s ninth studio album release that came out in May 2024.

Kings of Leon kicked off their set with the song “Ballerina Radio” off of their new album. Mondays aren’t so tough to get through when a high energy rock band headlines the stage at a Philly venue. Whether it was on the slower side or it included upbeat riffs, the crowd knew all of the words to every song played, singing and dancing along to every lyric, all throughout their songs. Usually, whenever a band is touring for their new album release, they tend to mainly play songs from that album alone with a song or two sprinkled in there from another album.

The Kings played some songs from every album. Having several albums since 2003, there were definitely some hits in there that had the crowd cheering extra loud, especially the ones they haven’t played live in a while. “Pyro” off of their album Comedown Sundown stuck out more to me while watching their set. At one point in the song, singer Caleb paused to let the crowd sing lyrics to the chorus on the screen that everyone yelled while the light show and colorful visuals that were eye-catching. Then tying back into the band playing as a whole again once the bang of the drums hit after that chorus.

During their tour, Kings of Leon have been advertising a “song for the city” where they surprise the crowd by playing a random requested song from fans from one of their albums over the years. Philly’s most requested song for the night was “McFearless” from their album Because of the Times. They admitted to not having played that one in a while, and while I’m sure it would seem it would be rusty to play, the band gave just as much energy playing this live as when it was released back in 2007.

Kings of Leon still brings that powerful live energy and movement 20 years later, with the crowd projecting just as much energy. Caleb even told the crowd “I got to say Monday night in Philadelphia is about as good as anywhere. We played on Saturday night, and you guys are better than the Saturday night crowd,” excited about how much fun the crowd had been.

There was so much positive energy and nostalgia through the night while both bands continuously thanked and declared their love for Philly. With their latest album titled “Can We Please Have Fun,” Kings of Leon most definitely answered that question after delivering plenty of fun during their Monday night set.

Cecilia Orlando