Concert Review: Passion Pit Shows Us Their Manners

The Ogden Theatre hosted a sold out party on April 7, and the main attraction for the diverse crowd—students, graduates, middle aged parents acting as chaperones for their abnormally music-aware 14-year-olds—was a band called Passion Pit. Reigning from Boston, Mass., the five-member band just emerged on the music scene with the success of their debut LP Manners in May 2009. Playing last year’s Monolith Festival at Red Rocks solidified a fan base in Denver’s metro-area. Their sound can only be described as their own: a sometimes soothing, often sporadic, dance-inducing, synth-laced experiment of front man Michael Angelakos gone right.

After listening to their album and EPs religiously, it is hard to conceive how they translate their sound to a live show. It turns out they do it impeccably. Angelakos’s almost-falsetto voice wavered not once during the 12-song set and three-song encore. The entire band was in constant motion: stamping feet, dancing and spinning around the stage. Their energy and the eight LCD panel lights constantly flashing behind them transferred to the already willing crowd; not a single person stood stagnant. Notable songs performed included “The Reeling,” “Little Secrets,” “Let Your Love Grow Tall,” “Moth’s Wings” (off of the Manners LP) and a cover of “Dreams” by The Cranberries. They aptly closed out the show with promises of returning soon and their most popular track “Sleepyhead.”

A deluxe edition of Manners with new artwork and exclusive bonus tracks including the cover of The Cranberries drops April 13. To learn more about Passion Pit and their upcoming tour dates, visit passionpitmusic.com. For a listen, try their Myspace at myspace.com/passionpit.