Passion Pit in Cork

After being fortunate enough to catch a very good Passion Pit performance at one of the smaller stages at last years Electric Picnic festival, I was extremely eager to take in one of their own shows. With dates in both Dublin (in the Olympia Theatre) and Cork (The Savoy) I eventually managed to get my hands on some of those free tickets that were causing such a fuss.

Choppy waters on the Irish Sea meant the boys from Boston were delayed in getting to the venue not taking to the stage until well after 11. This may have worked in their favour as the atmosphere in the crowd (possibly the most “dressed-up” crowd I have ever seen at a gig in my life) began to grow and grow culminating in a throbbing “Pa-Shun-Pit. Pa-Shun-Pit” chant which seemed to draw the band onto the stage.

If synthesizers are not for you then it is unlikely that you will ever find yourself a member of the Passion Pit fan club but live, with all songs played with such energy in a high-tempo to a crowd lapping up every second, all but the most extreme musical purists would find it difficult not to enjoy their approximately 70 minute set. “Make Light”, “The Reeling”, “To Kingdom Come” and just about everything else from debut full-length album Manners were all welcomed by a hungry Cork crowd with lead singer Michael Angelakos visibly shocked by such a warm reception. In truth, although their success has seen them play much, much larger venues than the 1,100 capacity Savoy Theatre, it still must be slightly overwhelming for a very young band on the back of just one album to travel thousands of miles across the Atlantic and play to crowds as enthusiastic as what was seen on Friday night.

A two-song encore which included a debatable (but excusable) cover of The Cranberries “Dreams” and the expected smash single “Sleepyhead” sent everyone home humming various different catchy as hell synth-lines.

Official Website : http://www.passionpitmusic.com/

Official Myspace : http://www.myspace.com/passionpitjams