Passion Pit rocks Governor’s Island: Electro-pop band plays to a crowd of 7,500

Passion Pit lights up Governor's Island. Photo by Becky Atkinson.

“You came to an ISLAND to see us! That means a lot,” said Michael Agelakos, lead singer of Passion Pit, completely bewildered.  The crowd of 7,500 Passion Pit fans on Governor’s Island Wednesday night couldn’t have been more content.  The weather was ideal, the ferry ride pleasant, the night brimming with enthusiasm for the band and the music.  It was Boston-based Passion Pit’s biggest show in their short history.  The indie, electro-pop band played a steadily escalating set, opening with their dream-ey single “I’ve Got Your Number” and closing with their break-out hit “Sleepyhead.”  They also threw in a fast-paced cover of The Cranberries’ “Dreams.”  Michael’s falsetto voice impressed listeners song after song.

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The band had no less than three opening acts – Suckers, We Were Promised Jet Packs, and the Tokyo Police Club, leaving the fans eager for Passion Pit.  The crowd was young included hippies and hipsters, wearing mom’s ripped cut-off jeans or too tight pants and oversized concert shirts – drinking, smoking, dancing.  There were a few notable exceptions, however, including a middle-aged woman avidly reading “Eat Pray Love” throughout the three opening acts, and a middle-aged man sporting a “Chicken Fingers Make Me Hard” tee-shirt (he later got in a very impressive glow-stick-twirling contest with a younger dude).  There seemed to be an outdoor bar in every corner and a steady cloud of cigarette smoke around the island.

The only downside to the concert was the mass exodus of people swarming – sprinting, rather – to the ferry when all was said and done.  Only one ferry was loaded at a time so when everyone had moved as close to the dock as possible, it was more body-to-body packed than the 6 on a Monday morning.  But, the fans found ways to bide the time.  These included singing a range of songs, from the National Anthem to Chumbawamba’s Tub-Thumping, and crowd surfing.  While people complained noisily, only a few went to desperate measures to cut the line (“Excuse me! Coming Through! Woman in labor!!” Yeah, right.).

Lead singer Michael Agelakos of Passion Pit. Photo by Aubrey Siegel.

The concert was fun but the crowd was happy to be back on the mainland once the ferries had docked…back to the town that apparently got Passion Pit started –“We may be from Boston but New York City made us,” Michael Agelakos declared.