Passion Pit at the Enmore Theatre 27/7/13 - Live Review

First of all, lets take a minute to remember how the band known as Passion Pit started. Now one of the largest indie pop acts in the world, the Passion Pit phenomenon came about almost by accident in 2007; lead singer Michael Angelakos created their debut EP, Chunk Of Change, because he didn’t have a Valentines Day present for his girlfriend. Chunk of Change was, quite simply, a labour of love. Fast forward six years, it’s easy to see the same love and passion emitted in front of a packed out Enmore Theatre.

Here for a quick visit surrounding Splendour in the Grass, the Massachusetts quintet entranced the crowd, but not before handpicked support act PVT had a chance to grace the stage. Coming off the back of their fourth album Homosapien and support slots for the likes of Gotye and the Arctic Monkeys, PVT (until recently known as Pivot) are no strangers to the stage.

The vocals/drums/drum pad trio treated the audience to a bone-shattering bass experience, showcasing the obvious technical talent of each of the three members. Their 45-minute set was complete with delicate falsetto, intricate instrumentals, admirable use of cutting in and out of bass-heavy sections and groovy vocal samples.

Despite the allure of the trio’s technical skills, PVT’s set was just… well, for lack of a better word, awkward. The group had no visible cohesion between themselves or the crowd, with one band member looking like he was suffering from some sort of seizure and he moved convulsively in time with the beats and waved a drum stick around without actually hitting anything. The lead singer looked strangely like a shaven Leonardo DiCaprio (not totally a bad thing), but his delivery sounded like he wanted to shout out the lyrics but was being held back, resulting in what sounded like pained, off-time, indistinguishable groans. The end result of PVT’s set was more an interesting than enjoyable experience.

12 months ago, the openly-bipolar Michael Angelakos had just released a relentless interview to Rolling Stone detailing why he was forced to cancel the opening shows to a countrywide tour: ‘My depression was so bad three weeks ago we had to cancel everything – people don’t understand this. It was so bad that I was suffering from something called Psychomotor Retardation, which is essentially where your brain starts shutting down your entire body. So you’re sitting in bed and you can barely move.’

When Angelakos and his four companions were finally released to the stage, complete in suit and tie, running his casual shoes over the rug that had been especially taped to the ground for him, he did not look like a man that could barely move. ‘I’m so self-loathing that it’s hard for me to see/ Reality from what I dream/ And no one believes me/ No, not a single thing’ he squealed at the beginning of the blasting opening track, ‘I’ll Be Alright’. Angelakos has this slightly uncomfortable knack of disguising dangerously cynical lyrics in the band’s delightfully uplifting synth-pop. The set was perfectly balanced between cuts from their debut LP, Manners, and their impressive sophomore album, Gossamer. ‘I’ll Be Alright’ led the way for a relentless opening section, also including the raw, distressing emotion of ‘The Reeling’ and escapism gold of ‘Carried Away’.

The call-and-repeat tactic worked a charm for Angelakos, enticing the already-pumped crowd with inviting points of the microphone to the 1500+ in attendance to shout back the catchy chorus lines. He pranced the stage from side to side, jumping up and down and even kneeling in submission in the more emotional tracks.

The live experience gave something that listening to the digital LPs don’t – even the weaker Gossamer tracks such as ‘Mirrored Sea’ had life breathed back into them by the enthusiasm and relentless drumming from Nate Donmoyer. Highlights came in the form of dreamy, pop-infused ‘Constant Conversations’, the unforgettable synth line of single ‘Take A Walk’ and the huge chorus of ‘Cry Like A Ghost’ (sorry to anyone standing near me that heard me sing that…).

Inevitably, Passion Pit closed the night with the glitchy, body-shaking intensity of ‘Sleepyhead’ – climaxing in a chaotic moment where keyboardist Xander Singh was playing his keys with such rigour that the whole setup ended up sliding off the stand, resulting in Singh playing the rest of the song kneeling on the floor, of course with a beaming smile.

It is slightly disconcerting knowing the dark experiences and lyrics behind the harmless synth lines and keyboard slides. It’s not easy watching Angelakos relentlessly empty his lungs into the mic knowing he was on suicide watch less than a year ago. But just remember why Angelakos started Passion Pit all those years ago: love. Passion Pit is a labor of love, and as long as the love – the Passion – is still there, Passion Pit will continue to reach higher. And higher. And higher.

-Ruben Seaton

Photos by Geneva Valek

#passionpit #pvt #enmore #enmoretheatre #rubenseaton #genevavalek