Passion Pit, the infamous electro-indie pop band from Cambridge, Massachusetts, was in Charlottesville this past weekend to play a headlining gig at the nTellos Wireless Pavilion. The show, which was held on Sunday night, was extraordinarily crowded (despite the fact that it was the same night as the series finale of Breaking Bad).
Passion Pit, the infamous electro-indie pop band from Cambridge, Massachusetts, was in Charlottesville this past weekend to play a headlining gig at the nTellos Wireless Pavilion. The show, which was held on Sunday night, was extraordinarily crowded (despite the fact that it was the same night as the series finale of Breaking Bad).
The venue, which is located at the eastern end of Charlottesville’s quaint and historic downtown shopping district, has been providing music fans with live outdoor concerts since 2005 and has featured performances from a number of big name acts, including The Black Keys, The Flaming Lips, and BB King.
The Joy Formidable, an alternative rock band from North Wales, kicked off the night with an incredibly high energy performance. The Welsh trio’s performance demonstrated an impressive fullness of sound, which is not always easy for a three piece. Lead singer and guitarist, Rhiannon Bryan, commented during the show that the band was incredibly excited to be playing with Passion Pit again, as they had played with them for their debut U.S. show as well. The highlight of the opening act came at the end when bass player Rhydian Dafydd jumped off stage and let a crowd member at the front of the audience play his bass guitar.
Passion Pit, who walked out to a deafening roar of screams and applause, opened their set with a performance of their song “Make Light”. The band’s set list that night was a great combination of their older and newer material, and included performances of the songs “Smile Upon Me”, “Sleepyhead”, “The Reeling”, and “Take a Walk.”
As a longtime fan of the group it was a relief seeing drummer Nate Donmoyer back playing live. Donmoyer, who had been sitting out due to illness earlier this year, put on a brilliant performance. It was clear the band was excited to have Donmoyer back in the fold, allowing him several opportunities for extended drum fills and solos.
This past weekend’s show follows shortly after the release of the band’s latest EP, Constant Conversations, which dropped on September 24th. The new EP features a previously unreleased B-side titled “Ruin Your Day” from their last full studio album, Gossamer, as well as two alternate versions of their songs “Carried Away” and “Constant Conversations”.
Lead singer Michael Angelakos, whose mental health issues resulted in the cancelation of a number of shows in July of last year, seemed in high spirits, thanking the crowd for missing out on the Breaking Bad finale to come out.
My favorite moment of the show was Passion Pit’s encore performance of their songs “Cry Like a Ghost” and “Little Secrets”, which made missing Breaking Bad totally worth it.
Words by Sam McClelland; Headline image via Passion Pit Instagram
