Another concert from the emergency series of the Austin/Ecology Action music showcase which took place last Saturday evening (no pictures were taken neither); volunteers were needed to help pick up the bottles and cans for recycling, namely when the it’s over. For some reason Passion Pit had two sold-out evenings at Stubb’s (according to the singer, my town was one of three cities to book the band in such a manner). My skepticism is more over why so many people were buying tickets when this act only has two albums which usually delegates them to opening-act status or headlining a smaller venue…say Stubb’s indoor location, the Mohawk or possibly Antone’s. Unlike my friend/concert buddy Mark, I still reserved judgment on the material until I saw it live since I haven’t really heard much. I do have the album Manners before their label (the dying behemoth Sony Records) did the cynical re-issuing maneuver (see Owl City and Lady Gaga too) yet the only thing played on the radio is “Sleepyhead.” Thus, the band must have a really big following in circles neither of us know personally. It’s the logical explanation for the high turnout to Citizen Cope every year.
Another friend I have at Waterloo Records said the shows may also have been boosted by the second opener Tokyo Police Club. Their name sounded familiar but I’m probably thinking some other band whose name is three random words strung together.
Singer Michael Angelakos could also maintain his rather weird falsetto in concert (there was a debate at the back bar if it was auto-tune, I was in the “no” camp) and he had the chutzpah to cover the Cranberries’ hit “Dreams” for the encore. I think he could hit higher notes than Dolores O’Riordan as well. In the end, Passion Pit gained my respect through the more difficult realm of performing live and made me want to revisit the current album on my iPod due to the instrumental-electronic elements. Would I pay money to see them again? Probably not until they have a larger, likable body of work yet I think there’s potential.