Camden streets were empty as London watched the Chelsea and/or Arsenal match on Wednesday night. Koko however, was sold out with London hipsters checking out NYC home county kids Passion Pit.
Their 'Manners' album is a synth infused electro style similar to hipstersuperband du jour MGMT with some Prince style vocal falsetto. At times you'll also hear a hint of retro 80's drum pad rolls à la Rick Astley. It's beautifully produced and sounds great.
Passion Pit played at Hyde Park Calling this summer, supporting The Killers . This time they're on a world tour and this was the second of two sold-out nights at Koko. Singer Michael proclaimed 'we're never sure how these show's are going to go'. He was right - the sound desk wasn't allowing their true potential to be heard. In comparison to Hyde Park, the show had lost it's magic.
Opening songs included new ones with synths that sounded like they'd been lifted out of Ne-Yo's 'Closer'. The reception was lukewarm. It wasn't until 'Little Secrets' and Sleepyhead that everyone sang along. The emo moment came from I've Got Your Number .
A surprise moment came when a hardcore drum loop was used within 'Better Things' causing confusion of whether a rave was starting. As the set finished there was an Xmas style riff that kicked into a crazy Moog solo crescendo. After some muffled talking (the sound quality below Koko's usual audio beauty), the encore started with the radio favourite 'The Reeling. Unfortunately, the live experience was inferior to the record.
As the crowds left in silence, Journey's 'Don't Stop Believing kicked in on the PA, twice as loud as the band. Everyone sang, probably chatting about how this 1981 power ballad has re-entered the iTunes charts at both 90 and 100 simultaneously.
Mark Stone
