The moniker and brainchild of UK born Mike Rosenberg, Passenger has been often called a “truly impressive performer”. Tonight, in front of the intimate Raval crowd, with a few special guests, he proved why he was worthy of such a statement.
Running on stage with a painful leg cramp, he opened the set with “Month of Sundays” off the new record Flight of the Crow. Naturally, this also featured a spontaneous freestyle about his leg crap. One of his more well-known numbers, “Walk in the Rain”, followed close behind, and carried a bit of a Darren Hanlon meets James Blunt sort of vibe. “Rivers” which featured Lior on the album, sounded just a good solo – although when he briefly needed a womans touch, he brought Jess Chalker (who was also the support act and appeared on the album – what an amazing singer she is!) onto the stage.
As you can see, the set was a good mix of new and old, though weighted towards the former. “I See Love” was another old track, though it was the new track “Shape Of Love” that proved the highlight of the night, with Mike welcoming Dave and Tim from Boy and Bear onto the stage to perform the track they recorded together. And the fact they came down and performed acoustically in the crowd only added to the excitement in the room.
Combine moments like this with Mike’s often hilarious banter, fun tracks like “Cheeky Monkey” (which closed out the night) and a LOT of audience participation – and indeed, we have ourselves a truly impressive performer and an evening that I won’t be forgetting anytime soon.
Don’t miss Passenger, travelling around the country with Boy & Bear now!
