Passion Pit gripped the audience at Observatory North Park with a stunning performances anchored by the timeless hooks they’ve come to be known for.
Passion Pit (credit to Justin Borucki)
Launching “Sleepyhead” early on, we quickly rode on a Passion Pit high. They released both a full-length album and a 10th Anniversary re-issue of an EP in 2017. Their set though was largely comprised of back catalog tracks.
Michael Angelakos, Passion Pit’s frontman and Brainchild, told us how he came to “sing like a Muppet.”
“I was really shitty at mixing music so then I just stacked my vocals, and then I was like, if I sing higher too, then maybe that will cut through the mix? And it did work except then it was kind of a curse because I’ve been singing like a Muppet for however many years now? Listen! It’s been a good ride singing this way, but I really like when everyone else attempts to sing that high too. It’s fun right? It’s like exercising: it’s painful but it feels good in the end, right?”
To the uproarious crowd, Passion Pit finished out their encore with “Take a Walk.”
Angelakos paused to say, “If anyone saw us back in 2008 or 2009, I would just jump around and then I just started singing so I was really uncomfortable. I remember we walked on stage at Lollapalooza in 2012, [there were] 60,000 people, mostly there for Ozzy Osbourne, not us.”
Angelakos explained how by happy accident, he found that if he waved his arms over his head, the crowd would follow suit during “Take a Walk.” And so began a tradition.
After the encore, Angelakos was lifted up and “Carried Away” by his bandmates. A funny yet apropos exit.