And My Dreams, It’s Never Quite as it Seems

Last Thursday, I luckily got the chance to see two of my favorite bands (and another that I’m beginning to fall in love with) at the 9:30 Club here in Choc. City; Passion Pit and Tokyo Police Club (and DOM). More accurately, I should’ve seen DOM, but Pork Slap Pale Ale and Moo Thunder Stout delayed my arrival until part of the way through TPC’s set, missing DOM altogether. The boys from Ontario did not disappoint, playing a nice balance of songs from A Lesson in Crime, Elephant Shell, and their newest effort, Champ (which we discussed here a few days ago). TPC was their typical high-energy self, finishing up with a particularly passionate version of “Nature of the Experiment,” which set the stage nicely for one of the best performances I have seen in a few years.

MP3: Tokyo Police Club – “Wait Up (Boots of Danger) [Passion Pit Remix]”

If you haven’t noticed yet, writing concert reviews is not my forte. I wrestled with the idea of just posting a few photos and a jam for you in lieu of an actual review, but the show put on by Passion Pit last week was so mesmerizing, I had to at least try to put it into words. They played EVERYTHING off both Chunk of Change and Manners, save for “Seaweed Song” and “Cuddle Fuddle” with such infectious vigor that I couldn’t contain myself. In fact, it got passionate (zing!) enough that my main bro Matt’s clothes couldn’t contain him (see epic bro preparing his best Petey Pablo impersonation). I had seen PP last June right after the release of Manners, and, while the show was entertaining, it was clear that the group needed to refine their live sound. Well….they did, in a big way. After lead singer Michael Angelakos informed the raucous crowd that he had heard that D.C. concert-goers didn’t dance, the mob responded with an hour of constant raging the likes of which D.C. hasn’t ever seen.

But wait, there’s more. They returned for an encore, playing “Let Your Love Grow Tall.” Then, the most amazing thing happened. I heard a few chords of what I assumed was a cover, and all of my friends began to look at each other. We all immediately realized that we were about to be blessed with one of the sweetest covers of The Cranberries “Dreams” ever, and that’s meant to be a compliment. The fact that the band had every single dude in the crowd singing “all my life, is changing every day” in falsetto and screaming the chorus of ooohs is a testament to the electric atmosphere running through the club that night. After finishing with a explosive version of “Sleepyhead,” the band waltzed off stage, leaving an adoring crowd in absolute shock. I was a sweaty mess, and I’m pretty sure I still haven’t recovered.

Check out the studio version of their cover of “Dreams” which I only discovered after the show, as well as some sweet pictures of the show after the jump.

MP3: Passion Pit – “Dreams”

Sadly, camera malfunctions led to zero pictures of TPC, but here are some of Passion Pit performing at 9:30 Club, Thursday June 3rd, in Washington, D.C.

Love,
Zack