Show Review: Passion Pit w/ Courtship, Neil Frances - Oakland, CA

Jared Stossel
Music
Michael Angelakos of Passion Pit performing at The Fox Theater in Oakland, CA. January 29, 2018. Photo Credit: Jared Stossel

Michael Angelakos of Passion Pit performing at The Fox Theater in Oakland, CA. January 29, 2018. Photo Credit: Jared Stossel

Passion Pit
w/ Courtship., Neil Frances
January 29, 2018
The Fox Theater
Oakland, CA

Photos and review by Jared Stossel.

I will be completely forthright when beginning this review: I had no interest in seeing Passion Pit before I attended this show. I remembered when I was a teenager and listening to local alternative radio stations. Their band would come on, and I would lose interest in seconds. Where was the heavily distorted guitars? Where were the songs that would be sure to induce mosh pits? I was a genre-snob as a teenager, that’s for damn sure. 

Well, it’s safe to say that we all make mistakes. I made a big one misjudging Passion Pit,  a band whose set I would dub as the most fun I’ve had watching a band in the last year. The band, led by charismatic frontman and sole member Michael Angelakos, packed The Fox Theater in Oakland on Monday night, bringing droves of fans to witness their breed of indie-meets-electronic stylings.

Opening the show was Neil Frances, an indie act that are what I would classify as “the live band version of Daft Punk’s slower jams.” It sounds odd in retrospect, but it makes sense when you witness it. The members of Neil Frances were all donned in white, and played a set that consisted of laid-back, almost disco-laden tracks as a warm-up for the evenings festivities.

As far as tour lineups go, Passion Pit’s was constructed well. Each band incrementally increased their energy throughout the night, which lead into a stellar performance from Courtship, an emerging indie-pop duo that I feel like we’ll all know by this time next year. Dressed in full-body orange jumpsuits, the band played upbeat numbers that weaved in and out of various genres ranging from indie, electro, and pop. The duo - comprised of Eli Hirsch and Micah Gordon - performed with an admirable amount of tenacity and excitement, never letting up in their pursuit of winning a crowd over. With a drummer and bassist to fill out their live sound, along with engaging showmanship, Courtship clearly succeeded in gaining a slew of new fans (not to mention pulling off a unique and well-played cover of Outkast’s “Hey Ya!” thrown into the mix). 

By the time Passion Pit hit the stage, the energy was through the roof. It took only one song for the crowd to grip onto every syllable that Angelakos sang into the microphone, running around the stage and jumping off of his keyboard stool like a rockstar. Material from the band’s 2009 debut Manners and their sophomore follow-up Gossamer heavily made up their set, with “I’ll Be Alright” introducing the band’s presence to the crowded theater. “Sleepyhead” made every fan collectively lose their minds, setting the tone for the rest of the evening’s sixteen song set. 

The show finished with a two-song encore comprised of “Constant Conversations” and “Take A Walk”. As the house lights went up, fans filtered out into the streets of downtown Oakland, their faces filled with genuine smiles and a memory of seeing a set of indie’s most promising collection of acts under one roof.  

Passion Pit Setlist
I'll Be Alright
Sleepyhead
Moth's Wings
The Reeling
To Kingdom Come
Where the Sky Hangs
Make Light
Smile Upon Me
Lifted Up (1985)
Swimming in the Flood
Mirrored Sea
Cry Like A Ghost
Little Secrets
Carried Away

Encore:
Constant Conversations
Take A Walk

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