My second time in the O2 Academy in a matter of days, and this time I at least felt a little more aware of my surroundings. It couldn't be any more different a crowd either - quite a diverse mix was filing into Academy 2, probably due to the amount of hype and/or airplay that Passion Pit have received over the last few months. But, first things first, we have an odd gentleman on the stage who is surrounded by keyboards and boxes with leads coming out of them. That man is Max Tundra (real name Ben Jacobs, fact fans), and whilst knowing the name I had never heard his music. By honest first impression was "what on earth is this?", and it's a good question if ever there was one. This balding 30-something makes music which sounds like a cross between a Nintendo 64 and Nathan Barley's ringtone, or (just so I can use another silly similie) the soundtrack to Vince Noir's wet dreams. It's not bad stuff, his 90s rave track being my highlight, but it's too early on a dreary Sunday evening, and Max sems to be too much for most and more faces painted a picture of confusion than anything else. He finished his set with his rendition of the Goodbye Song. Irony, much?
Next up were one of my highlights of Hop Farm festival, The Joy Formidable. Despite only having a mini-album to their name, the show the Welsh power-trio put on comes across like a greatest hits set. 'The Greatest Light...', 'Whirring' et al. all sound fresh and absolutley vital in the live environment, singer/guitarist Ritzy is every inch the rockstar, despite being tiny... and very cute. They remind me very much of the late great JJ72, with the smallest smattering of Smashing Pumpkins heaviness for good measure. Drummer Matt Thomas is a powerhouse of a drummer and pummels the kit within an inch of its life. TJF should be huge, and with a self-financed live album on its way, we will all be able to relive the excellence of their live show in our bedrooms. I'm looking forward to catching them again in the future, but will have to get used to the fact they will be moving into larger rooms sooner rather than later.
Hype can be a double-edged sword. It can build you up, but it can also knock you down, and tonight it did the latter. Despite the high expectations I had from from the rave reviews about the band, and from their enjoyable debut record Manners, tonight Passion Pit fell short of the buzz that surrounds them. Although there are moments of pure electronic pop beauty in singles like 'The Reeling', other songs are lost in the ether in the live setting, missing the fragile layers that exist on the LP itself. That's not to say the band weren't playing well, but after The Joy Formidable's set it was hard for me to get as excited about them as the previous trio. A faulty mic lead also led to mayhem for the band played through 'I've Got Your Number' (one of their most popular tracks) as an instrumental, oblivious to the crowds blank response and shouts that there were no vocals. Luckily, following some swapping of cables the band obliged the crowds calls of "Again!" and played the track through once more with the vocals. Its probably the only time I've seen a band play the same song twice, with possibly the exception of Let's Wrestle, but they are a whole different kettle of fish. Maybe another time Passion Pit would shine, but for tonight at least the politely bow out, knowing that it wasn't their strongest show, but still an enjoyable evening.
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