Passion Pit

A decade ago, Michael Angelakos’ Passion Pit burst out of Emerson College on the back of hit single “Sleepyhead” and debut album 'Manners'....
Passion Pit : Live

Passion Pit : Live

A decade ago, Michael Angelakos’ Passion Pit burst out of Emerson College on the back of hit single “Sleepyhead” and debut album Manners (QRO review). Originally the lead song on his Chunk of Change EP written for his college girlfriend, “Sleepyhead” and Manners launched Passion Pit very quickly into the big time. There have been ups and downs since then, but they’ve stayed big, and Angelakos has stayed exuberant, as was on full display at the new Rooftop at Pier 17 on Sunday, May 19th.

It was thankfully a beautiful evening outside, for what was also the opening night of the season for the venue, only its second year. Just a dock north of the old South Street Seaport (QRO venue review), looking out on both the East River and downtown Manhattan (Freedom Tower was very visible), the view from the classy space was impressive. Okay, there were serious lines for drinks, particularly during opener The Beaches (QRO photos), which seemed to be due to the new point-of-sale credit card system, but it really felt like spring had sprung and summer was here. It was actually the same night as the end of ‘Winter Is Coming’ Game of Thrones, but you were gonna watch that later on HBO Go and be disappointed anyway.

Michael Angelakos & co.

Passion Pit began big and bold, playing all of Manners for this tenth anniversary show. The stage set up had much room for Angelakos to room, with the rest of the band pushed to the back, behind tracks of lights and generally always in the dark. Okay, Passion Pit is Angelakos’ project, but when even the photographers in the pit can’t see anyone else in the group, it is a little remarkable.

Michael Angelakos

But this was particularly Angelakos’ night, because it also happened to be his thirty-second birthday. Some fans up front had balloons for the singer, though the kids looked to well younger (and who knows their age when Manners came out…). Angelakos would often go right to the lip of the stage, even step up on his monitors, but was just as comfortable jumping into the air, even literally getting down on the ground (all the while wearing a tie). For “Little Secrets”, he pointed his mikestand to the crowd, letting them take that Manners hit “Higher and higher and higher.”

Michael Angelakos & crowd

Because Manners isn’t just “Sleepyhead”. Admittedly, some of the songs are better than others, but that’s pretty much the case with every album ever, and Passion Pit could have easily been a college one-hit wonder, done when you’re young enough to think that you won’t have to get a real job. Instead, it’s got electro-pop uplift hits like openers “Make a Light” and “Little Secrets” in addition to the wonderful “Sleepyhead”, which has managed to be one of the great songs of its generation.

Just before “Sleepyhead”, friend Giuliano Pizzulo took the mike, to sing “Happy Birthday” to Angelakos. Angelakos has been open about his struggles with being bipolar and mental issue, so it was particularly nice to see him so happy about everything. He admitted that his last birthday was, “Way dark, so comparatively… Started from the way bottom.” And then the band launched into the song that started it all, “Twelve fucking years of that song!”

happy birthday, Michael!

After finishing off Manners with “Seaweed Song”, Angelakos said they’d be “back in a minute,” for the encore. The songs were all more recent than Manners, but not that recent, with only one (“Lifted Up (1985)”) from 2015’s Kindred (QRO review), the rest off of 2012’s Gossamer (QRO review) – none from 2017’s free release Tremendous Sea of Love, or recent single & collaboration with Galantis, “I Found U”. But doing Manners in full meant that they only had time to hit the hits, including also “I’ll Be Alright”, “Carried Away”, and big closer “Take a Walk”. “Walk”, in particular, has grown so much as to rival “Sleepyhead”, a modern immigrant song whose emotion that night was so powerful as to knock down any wall.

Michael Angelakos[special note: photographers had to leave after the third songs and store their gear in the manager’s office, but it was all handled well despite it being the first time this season – and your correspondent has had a much worse experience being told to put away his camera bag at a Passion Pit show on a Pier (QRO live review). But this did mean that no one could shoot the impressive full stage, including screens on the side with live video cameras following Angelakos (or at least trying their best…)]

After having everyone put their arms up before “Walk”, Angelakos & his band ended the night by bowing – with which the rest of the band carried Angelakos off on their shoulders. The start of a tour that included returning to the venue two nights later after selling out Sunday night (and for all of those who had to see Game of Thrones live to avoid post-show spoilers), it was a wonderful and uplifting evening.

Passion Pit

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