There was electricity in the air of the Prince Bandroom as hundreds of excited punters braved the stormy weather and made the trek down to St. Kilda to catch electro-pop wonders Passion Pit on the last of their Splendour in the Grass sideshows.
Supporting the boys on their Australian tour were The Joy Formidable who let loose with another ferociously intense performance. They are an extraordinary live act who whipped up a massive wall of sound with their unique blend of atmospheric grunge rock. Front woman Ritzy Bryan is rock personified and had the audience swooning over her as she elegantly moved around the stage, playing up to band mates Rhydian Dafydd and Matt Thomas. Highlights of the set were fierce versions of “Popinjay” and closing song for the night “Whirring” that went off with a long instrumental distorted guitar outro. If you haven’t been indoctrinated into the world of The Joy Formidable than get Google staking now and pray to whatever God you believe in that they’ll be back on our shores soon.
The lights in the bandroom went down and the crowd erupted as Passion Pit took to the stage in a haze of smoke and electronic noise and launched straight into their first track from 2008’s Chunk of Change EP “I’ve Got Your Number”. Front man Michael Angelakos has come along way since the days of making music for his girlfriend is his college dorm room and is now a seasoned professional of the live circuit. His stage presence is palpable and he worked the crowd up into a frenzy, stalking the front of stage and stopping to shake hands with his fans and even sign an autograph mid song. The audience was full of many a shrieking young lady as Angelakos proceeded to break out the dance moves, egging the crowd on to jump and make noise, “how’s everyone feeling tonight? Sing louder for us!”. Highlights of the set were golden versions of “Better Things”, “The Reeling”, “Moth’s Wings” and “Let Your Love Grow Tall”.
Angelakos stopped and taught us all how to hip hop dance before busting out the moves to “Smile Upon Me” and thanked us all for our patronage by dedicating a frenetic rendition of “Little Secrets” to the crowd, who in turn went nuts with a couple of very excited fans jumping onstage to hug the band members. Passion Pit encored with a cover of Cranberries hit song “Dreams” before ending the night on a high with their break out single “Sleepyhead”. The boys from Cambridge put on one hell of a party with their layered synthesiser pop that is endlessly entertaining and fun. They are a phenomenal live act who know how to please their fans and it was an absolute pleasure to be able to see them showcase the tunes from Manners twice this year.
