If you were in Charlottesville on the night of Sunday, September 29th, you were most likely doing any one of three things: cramming to finish your homework in a library, watching the series finale of Breaking Bad, or attending the Passion Pit concert at the nTelos Wireless Pavilion. I chose the latter activity of the three, which I do not regret, but the band’s performance did not live up to expectations.
On my way to the downtown concert venue, I was apprehensive as to how large the crowd would be. Passion Pit is a big name, but surprisingly enough the show did not sell out and word had spread of many University students attempting to sell their tickets at the last minute (most likely a result of homework procrastination and hopes of avoiding a late night of Sunday night studying). Nevertheless, the Pavilion hosted a large crowd of Passion Pit fans, young and old.
The band performed a grand total of sixteen songs, including the two encore songs. Beginning with “Make Light” and ending with “Sleepyhead,” the core set list for the show provided great diversity of slow songs interspersed between the band’s more upbeat numbers. To hear three of Passion Pit’s most famous songs (“Take a Walk,” “Sleepyhead,” and “Little Secrets”), you had to have the dedication to stay throughout the entirety of the show, including the encore, since “Little Secrets” was strategically placed at the very end of the entire set list. Hearing the songs played live by the original band was worth it, but it took more dedication to stay to the end than it usually ever does.
If you had seen Phoenix perform at the Pavilion four weeks prior, as I did, you would understand my feelings. The French band (famous for such hits as “1901” and “Lisztomania”) gave a stellar performance, complete with a phenomenal light show and ending with lead singer Thomas Mars walking into and amongst the crowd of adoring fans. In comparison, Passion Pit’s performance lacked passion, if you will. The band’s performance was good, but there were no notable moments when the musicians deviated from the usual playing of the songs – an aspect of live performances that make live performances so unique. Head-banging guitar and drum solos are one of the main draws of live music concerts, in my opinion. What Passion Pit was lacking in its musical performance, was not made up for in their graphics and light show. The light show was underwhelming, and did not offer anything particularly shocking or memorable for the audience.
While Passion Pit’s performance at the Pavilion did not meet my expectations, I still don’t regret attending the concert. Live music always tends to have a way of bringing people together and enforcing the idea of “living in the moment.” While Passion Pit did not impress as much as hoped, the concert was still a great change from your typical Sunday night at the library.