Passion Pit w/ Harlem Shakes & Cale Parks @ Lee's Palace

Last week was a busy week, both in terms of music and non-music related activities. I do have a few NXNE related reviews to post but before I go there, I've still got a couple of other shows to tell you about, beginning with the one that I caught at Lee's Palace last Tuesday night; a show that definitely falls into the long-awaited category.

Passion Pit had to bail on their last two Toronto dates, making this show at Lee's not only highly anticipatory, but actually the hottest ticket in town. This fact was compounded by the further fact that their stock has been rising quickly. Their first full length Manners was released only last month, yet the band sold out Lee's quite fast and they're already slated to return to Toronto again in August, this time performing at the bigger-by-about-550-people-venue, the Phoenix. That made this one about as intimate as we're gonna get with these guys for now, so the fans were very eager to just soak it all in.


Starting the night off was Cale Parks, a multi-faceted drummer and vibraphonist from Brooklyn. I showed up in time to catch only his last couple of songs, but even that brief amount of intake was enough to see that, as a drummer, this guy oozes talent. It was incredible to watch his drumming hands move at a speed that may as well have been the speed of light, since it was still faster than my tiny sense of perception could comprehend. However, this was not a wankerific set long drum solo, since the musical accompaniment of his laptop was steeped in the sounds of pure electro pop, not all that dissimilar to pioneers of the genre, such as Depeche Mode or New Order.

Following the percussive onslaught of Cale, was the predictable indie rock that was the Harlem Shakes. If there was ever proof that I've seen way too many bands as of late and am starting to develop into an overly jaded live music guy, I think this band is it. Judging by audience reaction, it looks like the Shakes have developed a pretty solid fan base of their own, and upon hearing their music that night, it was easy enough to see why. It was quite hooky and accessible, easy to jump around to, and generally inoffensive. However, as soon as the first song started up, I pretty much figured out what they were all about, and the lack of surprise just made me a tad disinterested. Other reviewers have name dropped Vampire Weekend when describing these guys, and I think that's a pretty decent starting point. If you like VW, then you'll probably dig these guys too. Overall they're not what I would call a bad band by any means and they've certainly got the performance aspect down. It's just that the music itself seems to be somewhat devoid of original thoughts and ideas. They name dropped Ruby Coast a few times during the night, which is good because if those bands are somewhat tight with each other, than maybe the Rubies could toss a few ideas their way as to how to throw in a tempo change or a dose of mild interestingness while still maintaining that indie rock sensibility. Just a suggestion...

Which brings us to Passion Pit. The band opened with, what I believe was an unreleased song. The lack of familiarity obviously meant nil to the patient fans since they were dancing spasmodically right from beat one. The crowds' rampant Pit-love must have been kept hidden for a long time since their enthusiasm was more than apparent. For the first few songs I was right up front in the midst of all of the euphoria, and from that vantage point, this was turning out to be quite the historical concert. The band sounded great, the music was all kinds of infectious, and everyone was having a blasty blast. The second song was Make Light, and it was hard not to get positively giddy at the sound of Angelakos' crazy falsetto. The highlight for me was the impossibly dancey Little Secrets, whereupon we all had our hands in the air during the "higher and higher and higher" part. After about four songs or so however, I shimmied my way out of the crowd and got a better look from a little further back and that was when the imperfections shone through more clearly. The band was actually quite stoic on the stage, which is unusual for a band that encourages so much movement. Also, the show was virtually banter free, which actually resulted in a couple of uncomfortable silences. Finally, the aforementioned falsetto was off quite a bit, which I wasn't expecting. Still, all of these shortcomings clearly went unnoticed for most of those in attendance, which means that the end result was still that of a good time had by all. Obviously the big hit (Sleepyhead) was another highlight, as was the one song encore of The Reeling. The show was brief, clocking in at about 40 minutes or so, which may have rubbed some people the wrong way, since they have been waiting for this show for so long. As for me, going to bed before twelve is always a good thing. and this show left me adequately satisfied.

My Photos: Passion Pit, Harlem Shakes and Cale Parks @ Lee's Palace on flickr.
Myspace: Passion Pit
Myspace: Harlem Shakes
Myspace: Cale Parks
Video: Someone actually posted the whole concert on youtube. Watch it here.