Troy, New York – the birthplace of Uncle Sam and the historical center of Dutch, New Netherlands. I had never been on the campus of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy before, but the place is hotbed for collegiate ice hockey (apparently RPI has a top-notch program). I had also never seen a concert in a hockey arena (for which the Fieldhouse was built). In fact, my last concert at a college campus was the band Boston at BYU’s Marriot Center back in the mid-80s. I usually dislike attending arena concerts because they seem to be more spectacle than musical event, and they lose most of the intimacy one feels with the music and performers at smaller venues and bars. This show in Troy, however, was too close to home (about 30 minutes from Vermont) to miss, and I figured that the booming falsetto soundscapes of the headliner’s vocals and the band’s spaced-out synths would work quite well in a large, airy venue.
They gushy synth-poppers Matt and Kim took the stage before Passion Pit. I’m admittedly not a fan of Matt and Kim – I like sugary synth-based pop as much as any brainy Asian physics student, but with her high top sneakers and sailor tattoos Kim frankly scares me, and Matt’s whiny vocal and pretty boy look strikes me as a New England version of Kenneth from 30 Rock.
Given that most of the percussion work on Matt and Kim’s recording efforts sounds electronically produced with a drum machine, I have never quite understood Kim’s function in the band (other than to intimidate me). I was nonetheless interested to see what their live performance was all about. The band quickly travelled through all of the singles in their repertoire in the 45 minute set such as “Daylight,” “Let’s Go,” “Lessons Learned,” greatly pleasing the mostly college-aged crowd. Even more exciting was Kim’s physical performance (she split her time during the set between standing on her drum kit and actually playing it).
The duo was prone to sexually provocative and slightly creepy stage banter. At one point in the show, referring to the covered ice rink located below the stage, Kim commented that her vagina could melt some ice (certainly not an image I wanted in my head Kim). Later, after Matt bent down from his keyboard to say something to Kim during a song break, he explained to the audience that he was telling Kim her breasts looked nice (didn’t want that one either Matt). At least for their live performance the drum machine was silenced and Kim worked hard to add some vigor to Matt’s keyboards, synths, and syrupy vocals. However, once one gets past the hooks, stage antics, and self-sexualization (which plays huge on a college campus), the formulaic melodies and simplistic, repetitive beats sound hollow live and recorded.
Although both bands on the bill are dedicated to electronically produced music, Passion Pit, behind singer Michael Angelakos’ songwriting, comes across as much more thoughtful and somber than the beer-soaked giddiness of Matt and Kim’s lyrics and sound. The match-up thus seemed particularly awkward from the start, but at least Matt and Kim’s performance served as a crowd pleasing warm-up for the main attraction.
I generally listen to music more for the drums, bass, and guitars rather than the lyrics and vocals, however, the poetic brilliance of Passion Pit’s latest album Gossamer’s otherwise mundane lead single, “Take a Walk,” ultimately won me over for its gut-wrenchingly engagement with the poverty and desperation associated with the Obama-age. Ultimately, I’m attracted to Passion Pit through its aesthetic association to a similar band, Naked and Famous, and their style of aired out synths and echoey high-pitched vocals. I’ve seen the two bands live now, and they possess some big similarities – both are packed with versatile musicians who jump to different instruments between songs (their bassists and guitarists go from keys to guitars throughout their live sets). Both bands also have the knack of creating some catchy, hook-filled, but serious pop tunes.
I thought Passion Pit’s set was impressive, and was amazed with the extent to which the live translations of their tunes express a greater intensity than the studio recordings. I noticed after the show some reviewers’ observations that Passion Pit sounds much better in a small venue (like the Upstate Concert Hall in New York, which they played last year), but I disagree – their cascading synths and Angelakos’ explosive falsetto vocal is well suited to large venues.
I enjoyed the radio hits performed at the outset, beginning with “I’ll Be Allright,” followed by “The Reeling,” and “Carried Away.” Yet, the set didn’t really take off for me until the seventh song, “American Blood.” The recorded version of this tune characterizes it as a more or less timid pop tune, but the live performance accentuates an irresistibly aggressive bass line, especially during the final chorus. From the end of “American Blood” forward, the show rocked through the stunning transition from ballad to rocker on “To Kingdom Come” to the Boz Scaggs-ish slowburner “Constant Conversations.” My favorite moment hit near the encore with the performance of “Make Light” – the lead off track on 2010’s Manners album. This was the one number where Angelakos took over the keyboards to free up guitarist Ian Hultquist. The result was a full-throttle shockwave, to which the size and acoustic breadth of the Fieldhouse made a fine contribution. The only real weakness I could detect of the show was the lightweight brevity of the encore (and first ever single for the band) “Sleepyhead.”
With their sonic-boom sound, I think Passion Pit and Naked and Famous have carved out an airy, but dark, synth pop sub-genre for themselves in alternative rock, and I look forward to what comes next from these bands. Below is a live clip of “Make Light” performed live in Boston a couple of years ago – awesome.