Amidst the craziness of the COVID-19 pandemic, PHANGS still put on a killer show on March 12th in Atlanta. It was the last night of leg one of the “Who’s Gonna Break Your Heart Tonight?” tour and the same day that just about everything was being cancelled or postponed, so it really was a night to never forget for this crowd!
Both openers, Reptile Room and 90’s Kids, made enough corona jokes that PHANGS didn’t have to. Instead, Jake Germany of PHANGS, took the time to continuously thank everyone for coming out and to have the time of their lives before everything is shut down. Of course, I am not throwing shade at either of the first two bands, just commenting on part of how they got the crowd to tune into their sets!
Each band introduced the crowd to a different style of music and invited them to have a good time. While the theme of the night was to get away from the real world for a few hours, the scene remained a bit ominous as each act had little to no front lighting. The use of lots of back lighting allowed the crowd to see silhouettes of the artists without seeing their faces. However, this effect did not put a damper on the mood as the small crowd took the opportunity to dance the night away.
PHANGS blew the crowd away by playing a few of their hits such as “I Forgot You” and “Cul De Sac” and a new song that released at midnight after the show, “Okay With That”! Jake Germany was very transparent as he spoke about the ups and downs of this tour. The ups being all of the amazing shows and people he and his drummer, Tom Szoch, were able to meet. On the other hand, he said that his neighborhood back home in Nashville was torn apart by the devastating tornadoes that hit a couple weeks ago. Jake revealed the harshness of being on the road and hearing about things going on at home that you can’t do anything about. After this reveal, he joked about how the rest of the set was going to be “very emo” but not to let that discourage anyone.
Overall, this show was very important to those in attendance as it encompassed very personal reveals and it was most likely the last night out people will have for a little while. PHANGS did not disappoint on their last night of tour.
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By: Joanna Barronton | Exclusively for @Music, Why Not!
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