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The Indiana Daily Student

arts

Passion Pit’s stop at IU becomes vibrant dance party

Passion Pit

A dim purple light covered the stage in the IU Auditorium as the members of Passion Pit walked out and took their places.

This was the only still moment from Saturday’s show, which soon became a charismatic dance party of lights and dancing silhouettes.

“It happened with just one band,” freshman Josh Moes said. “Most dance parties have a compilation of a lot of bands and a lot of albums, but they put on a show that everyone could get into the entire time.”

The concert was sponsored by Union Board and also featured Black Joe Lewis and The Honeybears.     

With everyone moving to the electric beats, the sounds seemed to amplify throughout the IU Auditorium.

“You felt the bass, it was shaking the whole building,” Moes said. “The energy behind everything was just pulsating. It was crazy.”

As soon as lead singer Michael Angelakos came on stage, the crowd was hooked.
After a little prompting, fans began to clap along, and soon their claps burst into applause.

“The best part of the show was when Michael fell to the ground and started rolling around,” freshman Patrick Hennig said. “I love it when musicians freak-out like that.”
 
Echoing the lyrics “tears like diamonds,” Passion Pit engaged fans to sing along to its hit “I’ve Got Your Number,” which was the first song on the band’s first EP “Chunk of Change” in 2008.

The band played a number of songs from its new album “Manners,” including the hit “Little Secrets.”

Fans went crazy when the set list also included a cover of “Dreams” by the 1990s group The Cranberries. And though the high notes were difficult to sing along with, it didn’t seem to stop anyone from trying.

“There was this one kid who was just singing and going crazy the entire time with just out-there dance moves, it was ridiculous,” said Allison Schten, an usher at Saturday’s concert.

However, it was obvious that the night’s most anticipated song was the band’s popular single “Sleepyhead.” After the band exited the stage, fans vocalized their approval as “Sleepyhead” chants for an encore were immediately underway.

Requests were satisfied when the band finished with “Sleepyhead,” and everyone began to truly let loose.

“It was amazing, that moment at the end when they finally played it,” Schten said. “The whole auditorium was jumping up and down, and everyone was rushing to the front. It was really cool.”

One complaint of the night was the constraints of the aisles, and by the end, security was overwhelmed by an enthusiastic crowd.

“They were just so crazy. One, the music was awesome, and two, I couldn’t not dance,” Hennig said. “I was seriously dancing like crazy, and the worst part of the show was when security had to escort me back to my seat.”

Overall, the Boston band provided an atmosphere complete with technicolor lights and techno-synth sounds.

“You could just see the whole crowd getting into it,” Schten said. “That was one of the best moments of the year.”

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