Passenger is finally in the US for his North American tour, and it was worth every second of the wait, and more.
Due to numerous reschedules and varying covid restrictions on international travel, it was getting to the point where it felt this tour was never going to happen. Two years after it was originally scheduled, Passenger is finally stateside. The US are currently experiencing an influx in bands from the UK and we are going to lap up every minute of it.
You’d be excused for thinking that attending a Passenger show would be a chilled night, where you get to sit peacefully as the folk songs wash over you. Well, you couldn’t be more wrong. Thalia Hall was packed wall to wall as the usually seated venue was all standing. This was anything but chilled, but in all the best ways. This tour sees Passenger, aka Mike Rosenberg, on stage by himself with just his trusty acoustic guitar, yet there was a fuller sound than you would expect. A large contributor to this was the audience choir, who sang along whole-heartedly to every song, including all the new ones that were recently released.
Throughout the show, Rosenberg entertained the crowd not just musically, but with his anecdotes between songs, and sometimes during the songs as well. Although he said the lack of performing live over the last two years had made him slightly nervous which made him organize a practice show, and then a practice, practice show, he looked completely at home and at ease on the ample stage. Each show sees him changing the mid-section of the setlist, which means performing songs he has not done in a long time, though every song was performed seamlessly and as if he’d been performing them non-stop since his last tour.
Rosenberg is a prolific songwriter, having just released his 14th album. Time and time again, he proves he is so much more than “Let Her Go.” While that is such a huge song, and brought him a lot of attention and success, hearing the reaction from the audience throughout the set proves how popular and great the rest of his catalog is. His songs can be funny, as demonstrated by “I Hate,” while others are poetic and can make you want to cry or dance.
He began the set with “Survivors” and “Life’s for the Living,” which are very poignant songs after what the whole world has collectively experienced since 2020. His performance of “Sandstorm” had the huge crowd captivated as they sang along and stamped their feet along with the bassline. His latest album Birds That Flew and Ships That Sailed was just released a few weeks ago, and only “Blink of an Eye” was performed from it during the show. The majority of the set came from the album All The Little Lights, including “Things That Stop You Dreaming,” “Holes,” and, of course, “Let Her Go.”
The whole night was lively, it was funny, and it took you away to another place – everything that the perfect show should be. The crowd got to sing, to cheer, to laugh, and have a thoroughly enjoyable evening. It was an evening that surpassed all expectations and was well worth the two year wait. But now we’ve had our fix, here’s hoping it’s not too long before we get to have our next hit.
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