When this show ended last night at 11:25, less than an hour after Passion Pit started playing, I felt both awesome and sort of bad.
(also-ed note: our photo pass was cut last minute so all photos in here from dave stroup, from last time)
First the awesome parts...
I missed Cale Parks, but I saw a bunch of people buying his merch, so I'll assume he was awesome. Go Cale Parks!
Next were the Harlem Shakes, who were fantastic and wonderful and adorable. Their music is so fun and bouncy, it was a great way to not only kick off the show, but to kick off the summer (I'm officially done with junior year! Yeah!). The crowd was sort of chatty during their set, but the band played loud enough that it didn't matter. Plus, enough people there were clearly fans. This one guy next to me knew every word and danced like a maniac the whole time. Another awesome thing about the band is that they had a guy play the flute. I don't think I've ever seen so many people dance to a song with flute in it. The Shakes played cuts off of their EP, "Burning Birthdays," as well as their new album "Technicolor Health." If you don't already own "Technicolor Health" you are a huge fool. It a perfect summer album and it's pretty much all I've listened to for the past week and a half.
Of course, the band that everybody came to see was Passion Pit. The second the group walked out on stage, everybody in the Cat went nuts. People were pogo-ing and dancing like crazy to every song. If you had never heard them before, it would appear that every song was a single because every time PP launched into a new track the crowd went berserk as if the four minutes of this song would be the best four minutes of their life. Before the show I'd heard that PP was pretty weak live but after this show I COMPLETELY disagree. They sounded great and they brought more energy into the show than a lot of bands I've seen.
Now for the bad parts...
I missed Cale Parks, but I saw a bunch of people buying his merch, so I'll assume he was awesome. Wish I could have heard his set.
The Harlem Shakes were robbed that morning in Richmond ("The most annoying thing that could happen ever," according to one of the members after the show), so they had to play a few songs acoustic. While they definitely sounded better electric, they never let the acoustic-ness bring the energy level down. This doesn't really qualify as a "bad part," it was just sort of a bummer. I still love them.
The most disappointing part of the show, however, came when Passion Pit ended their set at 11:25, less than an hour after they began playing. In fact, I think they played closer to about 40 minutes. So yeah, they packed an insane amount of energy into those 40 minutes, but when you're the headlining act at a sold out show, don't you think you should play longer than the opener? And at least have an encore longer than just one song? I enjoyed their set so much, but the fact that it was so short put a bit of a damper on it. I mean seriously, I saw Bruce Springsteen a few weeks ago and he's more than twice as old as these guys, but he played for THREE HOURS without stopping. Granted, he has a lot more material, but between "Chunk of Change" and "Manners," these guys easily could have added five or six more songs to the set. At the end of the show I heard a lot of people saying great things about the band, but I also heard a lot of people griping that the played for such a short amount of time (One guy was hanging around the stage so he could ask the band why they never played "Seaweed Song." He was all fired up. "They never played Seaweed Song, did you notice that?? Why didn't they play it?! It's only 11:25, why did they stop?!")
Thoughts? Should they have played longer? Is such a short set to be expected from a band with only one full-length and one EP?
Overall I really enjoyed the show. Fun and high-energy. I just wish that Passion Pit had kept going a little longer.
Previously in Live DC:
- 2/13: LiveDC: George Clinton & The Parliament-Funkadelic @ 930 Club
- 2/13: LiveDC: Veronica Falls/ Brilliant Colors @ Black Cat
- 2/13: LIVE DC: Steve Aoki/ Datsik/ Alvin Risk @ Fillmore
- 2/13: LiveDC: The Darkness @ 930 Club
- 2/9: LiveDC: Theophilus London @ 930 Club
- 2/9: Best Weekend Bets
- 2/8: LiveDC: Kathleen Edwards @ 930 Club
- 2/8: LiveDC: Thurston Moore/ Kurt Vile @ Black Cat
- 2/8: LiveDC: Thurston Moore/ Kurt Vile @ Black Cat
- 2/7: LiveDC: Demetri Martin @ Warner Theatre
God loves a cheerful giver.
i actually love it when bands play short sets. 40 minutes might be a little short, but 45 minutes is perfect, in my opinion. it's better to err on the side of a short set rather than a long set. that way, you leave the audience wanting more and you don't have to worry about people getting too tired.
I think it depends on the band. I don't think Passion Pit could play for more than an hour without people getting antsy or wondering if they're gonna make the metro.
Lord have mercy, I'm LOVING that Fender Jazzmaster photo.
Harlem Shakes robbed? How come I haven't seen a post on their MySpace or a prominent blog?
I wish they had played longer. I really wanted to hear "Eyes as Candles" and couldn't believe they didn't play it! It was definitely a great set with some solid energy, but a one song encore doesn't really cut it when the crowd is that jazzed for you.
I too was disappointed in the brevity of the set. I agree that their live performance is amazing and you're right, Nina - everyone did scream and dance to every song like they were all hit singles. The last time they were in town, they also played right through the Chunk of Change EP and jumped off stage - no banter AT ALL between the songs but to introduce the band members. I definitely was hoping for more this time around, but no.
My boy Jason and I agreed though that there were songs that they could've extended and jammed out to and just created a crazy dance party. Would've shown their musical prowess - after all, isn't that what live performances are for? An opportunity for bands and musicians to really show off their chops? Even Sleep Head sounded super short - or as another friend pointed out - we were enjoying it so much that it could've been 10 minutes long and it wouldn't have been long enough. (I still think it was unusually short)
Some thoughts:
1. What the hell is up with it being so hot up there? Note to Cat: those miles of air ducts only work if you TURN THEM ON
2. I thought this was an awesome live show, and I'm almost always disappointed by live shows. I don't need to leave the house to hear songs blandly trotted out, with no party rocking, banter, inside jokes, alternate versions, nothing. PP played alternate, dancier versions of almost all their tracks and it was great.
Their set is about 6 tweaks away from being an awesome 90 minute dance party, with a couple of interludes to let people rest and get drinks. A bunch of the tracks - especially "Smile Upon Me" - could have absolutely broken out into 10 minute dance jams that made people go crazy. As it was, you got the 5 minute version that made people go crazy. Seriously, the hands-in-the-air ratio was amazing.
I think a longer PP show doesn't mean more songs, but extended versions. My iTunes has their complete catalog at 1:20, and some of that is kind of flat and not really show-worthy, so they can't really play *everything*.
I viewed their set like selecting a piece of meat at the butcher.
You go for the choice cuts (Manners), not the biggest ones with layers of fat, excess bone, knotty sinews (the lesser than Chunk of Change EP).
Passion Pit put *just enough* of their meat inside of me.
Both the PP and Shakes shows are on NPR.com for streaming here: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=105109499
They should be available for download as a podcast soon.
I agree on the shortness being a bummer, but considering I live in Baltimore, I'm also glad I got home at a decent hour. PP definitely sounds superb with live bass and percussion driving the songs. It could have turned into a complete workout, but still, the energy was there. They probably just need another tour under their belt to season their live show.
i saw the show in richmond the night before and i feel like everything was better. the crowd at the cat last night was horrible. i mean i'm glad they danced, but i have never seen so many belligerent fratty dudes outside of a frat party. i ended up leaving early because i couldn't deal anymore.
the dudes aside, the harlem shakes sound much better live than they do on their album. and passion pit is amazing, i can't wait to see what they do next.
I think it was one of the band mates birthday's. They likely cut it short for party purposes.
My first impression of harlem shakes was here's jon mayor & friends... but as I listened that thought quickly changed. HS played great... as good as pp.
Just saw them in Boston - the best way to describe the show is absolutely magical. I think they could have played for another 20 minutes easy. Everyone was jamming; I've only seen people dance that much at Girl Talk and Phish. I cannot wait until they come back around.
That was an epic amount of fun.
Check out their show for download on NPR!