Monday, April 19, 2004
Rock the planet
Phantom Planet plays interactive show at NIU on Fri.
Article by:
Derek Wright - Weekender Reporter
• dwright@northernstar.info
Phantom Planet didn’t take the 101 on its way to DeKalb for its
show at the Holmes Student Center’s Duke Ellington Ballroom on
Friday night.
Instead, the California quintet took Interstate 94 on its way from
Duluth, Minn.
“We love playing college shows,” guitarist Darren Robinson
said. “This place is really friendly; [CAB] has been great.”
The band canceled two Chicago shows to comply with NIU’s radius
clause.
Collectively battling colds, Phantom Planet played a 75-minute set
that included material from the band’s last two records, “The
Guest” and “Phantom Planet.”
The interactive show featured a call-and-response sing-along during
“Turn Smile Shift Repeat.” Front man Alex Greenwald’s
trip into the crowd during “Big Brat” ended with the singer’s
passport being stolen from his pocket while crowd-surfing.
The group’s energetic set included “California,” “All
Over Again,” “1st Things 1st” and nine others.
The set concluded with “Nobody’s Fault,” one of three
songs the band played during its encore.
“This crowd was amazing. The place was loud and fun,” Robinson
said of the several hundred in attendance.
New Zealand rockers Steriogram preceded Phantom Planet to garner support
for its debut album from Capitol Records, “Schmack!” Entering
to the “Top Gun” theme song, the band possessed an awkward
arrogance throughout its 35 minutes on stage.
Vocalist Tyson Kennedy paraded around with a slew of back flips and
break dancing. Elements of rap and punk were accentuated with the occasional
throwback guitar riff. In addition to a cover of AC/DC’s “Back
In Black,” the set was highlighted by “Walkie Talkie Man,”
the band’s most recent song to be brought to life in a music video
directed by Michel Gondry.
Mates Of State opened the evening. The married duo of drummer Jason
Hammel and the pregnant Kori Gardner played a traditional version of
twee-pop, which featured songs from its 2003 release, “Team Boo,”
as well as a cover of Nico’s “These Days.”
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