So, Passion Pit, you guys! They are the New Hot Thing, as declared by me, celebrity guest blogger Sean. As I live in Austin and had more than ten dollars, I was granted unprecedented access to their June 3rd show at Emo's with fellow east-coast liberal elite pals Harlem Shakes and Cale Parks.
Although my bike FELL APART half a mile from the venue, my immediate declaration of jihad against the scourge of machinery proved somewhat hasty. Opening act
Cale Parks, which is either a stage name or his mother writes fantasy books, was a one man bionic band. His act consisted of bass-heavy tunes supplemented with some vigorous drumming, incoherent wailing and plenty of tweaks to his vast array of godless music machines. An all around impressive display, really, although the only big response he got from the crowd was when he commanded his bass machines to say
thump thump.Next up was
Harlem Shakes, who I was disappointed to find out is not a jaunty jazz troupe nor a traveling malt shop. Still, the [roughly] 80-strong collective included amongst their midst a giant saxophone, to which I responded "yes." It's no malt shop, but whatever, you delight me already, Harlem Shakes. The disingenuously whites-only group played nearly a full album's worth of material, which in my professional opinion had some truly standout hits along with a few lazier fillers. Sadly the giant sax did not play a big role, despite my dismayed howls at his withdrawal. Also of note, their lead singer sounds frighteningly similar to
Clap Your Hands Say Yeah's Alec Ounsworth, so perhaps they share whatever the genetic mutation it is that causes eerie nasally howling.
Being the famous music critic that I am, I will label Harlem Shakes as "promising."
As good as the Shakes was, the crowd's most religiously fervent display was saved for the Passion of the Pit (sorry, everyone).The people came to dance, or at least in my case bounce around enthusiastically. This was a condition only the headliners (or again in my case, several High-Lifes) could induce, and
lovelorn frontman Michael Angelakos was quick to administer the goods. Angelakos' strange falsetto is somehow not annoying on their very stellar
full length debut, and he pulls it off well onstage. Everything sounds as it should be, only more racous, more euphoric, and more awesome. Nonstop hooks and pumping synths are not the way to calm down a drunken crowd. In fact they do the opposite of that. By the time the band had finished with an encore of
The Reeling, the crowd seemed ready and capable of charging the
Gates of Mordor.
I used the momentary confusion to rush to the head of the t-shirt line, because I like to show people how awesome I am without speaking to them.
Anyways, the two miles spent dragging my bike home was well worth it.
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