Passion Pit & Youngblood Hawke // 10-14-2012 // Washington DC
Review by: Ryan Bahniuk // Photos by: Cara Bahniuk
Is there a band out now that can hide breakup emotions in up-beat pop songs more effectively than Passion Pit? Two of the first singles from their recent album, Gossamer, are stomping sing-alongs that have major chart potential, yet have a totally different dynamic in meaning. On “Take a Walk” Michael Angelakos tells the story of a hard-working man who provides for his family, only to lose it all in the recession. On “Carried Away” he laments about a broken relationship, while questioning his nostalgia and passively agreeing to pretend to be friends. This is far from the tone of their first album, Manners, which was based on songs originally written for Angelakos’ girlfriend. The songs from Manners relay like joyful love songs, while the songs from Gossamer end that romance. This kind of raw emotion was what Passion Table brought to 9:30 Club in Washington DC on October 14th.
I was admittedly late to the Passion Pit party, having listened to Manners and written it off as just another electro-pop album by an up and coming band. Sure there were some catchy songs, with a few very good standouts, but it just didn’t connect with me. Gossamer on the other hand, had me at the first beat of “Take a Walk”. With the energy that they brought to the 9:30 Club though, I admit that I was wrong about Manners and have been playing it on loop since. The finale alone, a raucous rendition of “Sleepyhead” with blinding green lights, confetti raining from the ceiling, and 1200 fans jumping around the floor, was one of the best live performances I have ever seen. Angelakos wasn’t lying when he yelled to the crowd that he “fucking loves the 9:30 Club and DC!”. The 9:30 Club provided a perfect venue for a band like Passion Pit: large enough to get great crowd energy, yet compact enough to keep an intimate sense to the performance.
The 9:30 Club had a similar effect for the opener for the night, upstarts Youngblood Hawke. They flew through their drum-heavy eponymous debut EP right up to a cover of Biggie’s “It Was All a Dream”, which almost seemed heretical for the West Coast natives. The four different drum sets were a nice touch, giving beat heavy breaks in between songs that would have sounded great on any street corner outside in DC (and that is a compliment). They closed their set with “We Come Running” and what will probably be their second radio single, “Forever”. It is only a matter of time before this band blows up in the alternative world. They remind me a lot of Grouplove a year ago: just breaking through with catchy singles and fun live performances. Can Apple just pick up “We Come Running” for an iPod ad already? I would definitely recommend attending on of their upcoming shows. Dates can be found on their website.
Passion Pit
Youngblood Hawke
