Stayin' alive: Phantom Planet proves that rock n'roll is alive and well

There are concerts that make you feel alive. Your skin is jumping with musical electricity and all thoughts of the day are stymied by the breathtaking act sprawled before you on stage. In your bones, you feel the crowd's energy sizzling. Phantom Planet's Friday night concert at Axis was such an affair.

Apparently, the longer Bostonians wait to see their music de jour, the hungrier they get. Due to a mysterious no-show by opener Ben Lee, the concert began at 8:15p.m. instead of the earlier ticketed time of 7:00. But as soon as Phantom Planet (PP) took the stage, oh, did they ever take it.

Originally from Los Angeles, the band has recently climbed a few rungs on the stardom ladder after their song "California" was chosen as Fox's The O.C.'s theme song, thus extending their fan base across this great prime-time country. The band treated all fans at the concert to the rocking caresses emitted from its music during the hour long set.

Combining the known success of its album The Guest, now in re-release, with forthcoming songs from its new album Phantom Planet Forever due out in February, the group was able to texturize its performance to both its hardcore, lip synching 16-year-old girl clique as well as to the older rockers in the house, who, for whatever reason, have gotten turned on to PP late.

That got the concert going -- that, and front man Alex Greenwald, who has the flexibility of a monkey combined with the slyness of a cat. He's one of those people whose only possible career option is rock star. From body surfing on two separate occasions toward various areas of the crowd to parting the sea of dizzy young things so as to reach the older crowd swaying in the back, he knew how to push the mass's buttons. The most incredible part of the show, however, was when he used the rafters running over the audience as virtual monkey bars, singing and swinging the entire time

But as much attention as Greenwald gets (and deservedly so) for his antics, it is the band as a collective unit that marks the warm, bubbly feeling of rock goodness that so distinguishes Phantom Planet. With the stage as their swimming pool, these boys splashed all about, making sure everyone in their audience got wet. Between gratuitous grabbing of the guitarist's limbs, to Greenwald threatening to "f***ing kill" anyone not singing along with the chorus of their new single, "Big Brat," the concert was certainly a collaborative effort.

With Darren Robinson and Jacques Brautbar both on guitar (see sidebar), Sam Farrar on Bass, and new drummer Jeff Conrad (original drummer Jason Schwartzman left the band to pursue acting full time) at the helm of the beats, these instrumental four didn't just provide background; they provided context. As a band formed first out of friendship that just happened to lead to success, part of the joy of watching their show is watching their own particular brand of friendship in motion. And luckily for them and even luckier for us, that brand sounds darn good. And while the band may not have hit its contemporaries, the Strokes', level of fame yet -- they certainly have proved to have more depth than the television show that's making them famous.