Passion Pit Prep for Their Biggest Stage Yet
On Friday, as Nemo spewed snow over New York and much of the East Coast, Passion Pit prepared for one of the most important shows of their career at Madison Square Garden. Earlier that afternoon, in his Brooklyn Heights apartment, the band's frontman and mastermind, Michael Angelakos, fretted about the evening. In the past year, his battle with bipolar disorder has forced Passion Pit to cancel numerous shows.
Rolling Stone tagged along with Passion Pit as they tuned, dressed and geared up for their show on one of the world's biggest stages.
By Jon Blistein
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Loose Ends
Unpacked clothes cover the couch and a bag filled with books by Italo Calvino, Junot Diaz and Edward Albee sits on the floor. Kanye West's "Through the Wire" pumps from the speakers as Angelakos shares his love for the big orchestral stylings and the simple lyrics of songwriters like Irving Berlin and Cole Porter. "They were saying this is pop!" he exclaims.
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Overstuffed
Angelakos put much of Gossamer together himself with help from producer Chris Zane and engineer Alex Aldi. Playing the tracks live with a band gives him a new jolt of energy.
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Final Check
Angelokos checks to make sure he's got everything he'll need for Passion Pit's tour. The College Dropout continues to play on the speakers, and as Yeezy recalls his hip-hop odyssey "Last Call," when he shouts out producer No ID, Angelokos chimes in that West's colleague was also the one who advised him to return to New York to finish Gossamer after unfruitful sessions in Los Angeles.
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Running Late
Passion Pit is scheduled for a 2 p.m. soundcheck. Around 1:40 Angelakos peeks his head out the door and anxiously scans for a car that has yet to arrive. The snow shows no sign of letting up.
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Full Speed Ahead
The driver helps Angelakos load his suits and suitcase into the trunk. "We're going to 33rd Street and 8th Avenue," says Angelakos. "Penn Station – are you taking a train?" asks the driver. "Uh, well, yeah, kinda," answers Angelakos with a small laugh.
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The Brooklyn Bridge
The car crosses the Brooklyn Bridge and Angelakos recalls walking across the famed bridge while he and his bandmates finished recording Gossamer. Song ideas often come to Angelakos out of nowhere, and the voice memo app on his phone is packed with these spontaneous melodies.
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The World’s Most Famous Arena
"Playing Madison Square Garden felt like a big statement," Angelokos says in the car. "We wanted it to be a more universal New York City thing." The band chose the Garden over Radio City Music Hall and Brooklyn's new Barclay's Center.
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A Familiar Voice
As we pull up in front of the Garden, Angelakos plays a live version of "Tickle Me" on his phone when he gets a call from his wife. "You interrupted Randy Newman!" he kids as he picks up. During the car ride, Angelakos talked candidly about his struggle with bipolar disorder and the challenge to bring awareness to mental health in the coming years. He's proud to now be a part of that fight and notes he wouldn't be able to do so if it weren't for his wife: "She's saved my life on multiple occasions."
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Against the Wind
Chunks of Madison Square Garden are walled off by scaffolding and construction, leading to a frantic walk across 33rd St. Angelakos rings his friend (and Passion Pit's right-hand man) Sal to find out how exactly we're supposed to get inside. No answer. Angelakos grumbles and braces himself against the cold.
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The Big Stage
Passion Pit bassist and synth player Jeff Apruzzese marvels at the massive stage the band will take later tonight, illuminated by giant glowing orbs.
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Soundcheck
Sheltered from the storm, Angelakos joins the rest of the band – Apruzzese, Ian Hultquist (keyboards, guitars), Xander Singh (synthesizers, samplers), and Chris Hartz, who's filling in for drummer Nate Donmoyer – in the arena as they get ready to soundcheck and tighten up a handful of songs.
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Good Ear
While the band blasts through instrumental versions of "I'll Be Alright," "Carried Away" and "The Reeling," Angelakos listens and instructs: There's a bit of a hum on "Love Is Greed." Pump up the backing drum track on "Cry Like a Ghost."
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Feeling This
In the nearly empty arena, it's impossible not to feel your body vibrate under the deluge of sound pouring out of the towering speaker stacks. From his post at the boards, Angelokos' head begins to bob, the peak of a wave that begins at his chest and ripples upwards. The hooks sparkle, the choruses erupt and Angelakos says, "It'll sound even better when it fills up."
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The Waiting Game
Soundcheck wraps at about 4:30 p.m. and the band heads back to the green room to prep, relax and grab some grub. Multiple Seinfeld references abound.
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Wardrobe
After a brief, ultimately unnecessary sojourn into the blizzard, a slightly agitated Angelakos ducks into wardrobe, where the tailor, Dora, puts the finishing touches on some sharps suits he recently purchased. "How do you feel now?" Dora asks as he dons a blazer. "Well, there's a lot of things happening," he sighs. Without missing a beat, Dora deadpans: "And the shoulders?" The frontman laughs. Snug in a charcoal Fendi suit, Angelokos thanks Dora endlessly and adds, "I'm starting to get real excited about tonight, and less anxious."
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Almost Showtime
Following opening sets from Icona Pop and Matt & Kim, the bandmates gather in the wings before taking the stage. After futzing with their earpieces, they huddle up and unleash a roar to match the waiting crowd.
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I’ll Be Alright
The moment Passion Pit takes the stage, every fear, worry and anxiety that's coursed through Angelakos' mind today vanishes. "I'll Be Alright!" he hollers with the audience.
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Crowd Pleaser
During soundcheck, Angelakos checked with the MSG crew about the safety of perching atop the monitors directly in front of the crowd. Getting the OK, he frequently found himself there, belting out the choruses to favorites "Carried Away," "American Blood" and "Constant Conversations" right with the adoring masses.
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Flying High
Throughout Passion Pit's set, Angelakos unleashes a torrent of energy, darting across the stage, leaping into the air, and even tossing in a few Roger Daltrey-esque mic twirls. Not once does his falsetto fall flat as he pushes it toward ethereal heights.
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Arena Ready
Though this was just the band's second show with drummer Chris Hartz, Passion Pit sounded tight and triumphant throughout their 17-song set. On tape, Angelakos' meticulously composed songs ooze stadium-sized pomp, and onstage he, Hultquist, Singh and Appruzzese performed cuts like "Carried Away" and "Make Light" with the pop grandeur they demand.
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Thank You, Thank You
"Seven months ago they told me I'd never fucking tour again, and now we're here at Madison Square Garden," shouted Angelakos at one point in the show. Between songs, he gushed over and over, "Thank you so fucking much, New York City!"
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Do You Want an Encore?
After a doozy of a set, one Passion Pit classic had still gone unsung. "So let's get right to it," said Angelakos as the band re-emerged at the behest of the audience. "Sleepyhead," the band's breakout single, followed, of course, culminating in a downpour of confetti.
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Watch Your Step
One impeccable encore later, the Madison Square Garden crowd roars, Passion Pit takes a bow, walks off the stage – and Hultquist almost tumbles over a light.
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Have Your Cake, and Eat It Too
Though their gig scheduled for following night in Boston was pushed back to Sunday, Nemo couldn't stop the band. They celebrated their MSG stand with a well-earned cake decorated with the Gossamer cover, which Apruzzese generously fed to Hultquist.