Passenger
Islington Bar Academy, London
7 April 2008

Passenger are two guitarists, a bassist, a keyboardist, a drummer and five very passionate guys. For the high level of slit-my-wrist sentimentality present in the songs, there was a surprisingly large amount of men in the audience. And they know the songs. And they whistled after each one. And that's because Passenger is actually good dramatic music, not cheesy or flat. The keyboard sounds more like a real piano and there isn't any of that spacey echoing key sound that is so popular among indie bands now. The guitars, both acoustic, are swung around and strummed as if they were electric, adding to the reverberations of the moving lyrics. The bass was excellently audible and did not get lost amidst the many sounds pouring from the stage.

Vocally, some songs may have easily been confused with some of James Blunt's more nasal tracks. The lead singer's onstage character also denotes the physical pain that can accompany heartbreak; when not playing his arms flail about in a convulsing kind of way that adds great drama to songs already dripping with feeling. During some points of heightened intensity all but the drummer lend their vocals to create a humming harmony that lingers in the air after a song ends much like fleeting passion suddenly finding itself on a one-way street. During the acoustic "For You" the audience is dead silent to then erupt in applause in the same way it did after the only dancing bit of the night with a song not involving depression.

Passenger came back for a swift but powerful encore leaving audiences bundled up in feelings but a little upset at the short stint of their total performance. There will definitely be either some lover appreciation tonight, or, for the majority of us there, some more lamenting at the fact that we are again alone. Although the music helps a little.

Christina Cromeyer Dieke