Thursday, June 3, 2010

Passion Pit, 9:30 Club, Washington, DC

After great sets at Bonnaroo and Treasure Island, very excited to see my favorite new band of 2009's energized brand of indie pop/electronic at my favorite venue

Even though my flight was delayed for over an hour, I was able to still able to get from the airport to the 9:30 Club in time for the Passion Pit show, evening picking up Eric and his friend along the way. Despite our late arrival, we were still able to finagle a decent spot on the floor within view of the stage.

It was already my third time seeing Passion Pit within the last year, but considering that their debut album, Manners, was perhaps my favorite new album of 2009, a third viewing was certainly reasonable. Though seeing any band a third time is never as exciting as the first time, I was amped for the chance to finally get to see Passion Pit on a small stage at a club instead of the large festivals where I had previously saw them. Considering their inexperience and synthesized sound, I felt their sound would translate better to a small venue.

Passion Pit is very danceable, so I was happy to do my part in the audience, jumping up and down for my favorite songs. While the show was certainly a blast and the crowd was really into the experience, I still felt like their live performances are unable to do their album justice. As I found before, the lead singer's voice didn’t translate well to a live performance, with his falsetto pitches failing to achieve the same volume and clarity they receive after being run through a software program. With their limited repertoire, they were also only able to put together a little over an hour’s worth of music, basically just a rendition of their album, a few numbers from their EP, and a cover of The Cranberries’ “Dreams.” Though the show wasn’t exactly what I was hoping for, perhaps my criticism is unwarranted since I had such high expectations for such a young band. The show was still certainly worth the trip.

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