Passenger, AKA Mike Rosenberg, made a welcome return to Chicago for a night filled with beautiful music and entertaining stories.
The last time we caught a Passenger show in Chicago was early 2022, when shows that had been rescheduled due to the Covid pandemic were starting to make a welcome return. Two and a half years later, and despite the city being blessed with multiple options for shows all on the same evening, the Riviera Theatre had an very ample-sized crowd in attendance to welcome Passenger back to the city.
If you’ve not seen him perform live before (first of all – why not, second of all – go do it), his shows are not necessarily what you would expect from listening to his albums. Although we have seen him perform with a full band on a previous tour, typically it is Mike and his trusty acoustic guitar on stage alone. As he explained at the beginning of his set, many hear the name Passenger and presume it’s a band rather than a person. This is not the kind of show where everyone is seated and quietly observing. The audience was on their feet and singing along wholeheartedly while some were swaying along with their other halves. One member of the audience in particular showed off his singing prowess when Mike passed the vocal gauntlet over to the crowd. This gentleman more than stepped up to the plate.
Although we said this is not the type of show where the audience quietly observes, this is definitely not the artist you go to see to chat with your friends. When stern looks over to one section of the crowd who were talking particularly loudly for quite some time did not give them the intended hint to STFU, they most certainly took the feedback on board when Passenger performed “I Hate.” When a certain line was sung accompanied by finger gestures towards the back corner of the room and cheers from the rest of the audience, the loud chatting finally dissipated, much to the joy of the rest of the crowd.
The majority of the set comprised of songs from All the Little Lights which is not surprising since last year saw the tenth anniversary edition of this album be released. This album, of course, included the hit song “Let Her Go,” a song that Mike said was not to be confused with the Frozen tune. Passenger has a wicked sense of humor which is clear for all to hear during his anecdotes between songs. After performing a cover of Simon and Garfunkel’s “Sound of Silence,” rather beautifully we may add, he mentioned the time when he was busking when a young crowd member complimented him on this song as if it was one he had written. Since the set he had just performed had not gone particularly well, he decided to take the compliment and not correct the youngster. Don’t worry, Mike. Your secret is safe with us…. oops!
We’ve mentioned before how difficult it can be for a solo artist to capture the attention of the audience, and that it takes a special caliber of musician to be able to pull this off. Passenger is one such musician, proving time after time that he doesn’t need the backing of a band to hold your focus and entertain you. His beautiful lyrics, intricate guitar lines, and a great voice mean that he has the necessary trifecta to make for a great one-man show. We wouldn’t usually notice this to the point where we feel the need to mention it, but the stage lights particularly added to the ambiance of the evening. It was almost as if they were an extra band member on stage with Mike due to the impact they had on each song.
There are just a handful of dates left on this tour as it heads west before he makes his way over to Australia. With an impressive 13 studio albums under his belt, hopefully, he’ll be back soon to either celebrate another album anniversary or the release of a new album. Either way, he has plenty of material to choose from to entertain us with, so here’s hoping it won’t be another two and a half years before we get to have this fun all over again.
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