Sunday 7 April 2013

A little (now famous) busker named Passenger


 "Well if you agree, then come hating with me,
And feel free to sing along."--I Hate, Passenger

I’m gonna be blunt. Today's music is becoming increasingly shit. I’ve had enough of hearing the ‘omG, lemme sex you up and touch you everywhere inappropriately, whilst we snort coke off each other and become soooo crunk that we projectile vomit on the floor’ lyrics often featured in dubstep-infused clubbing crap (yes, I’m looking at you Mr Worldwide/305 and Flo Ridaaa always featured on David Guetta tracks.) I also have a disinclination towards such music because (excuse me if I’m being overly stereotypical), I’m sick of hearing lads and gangas singing along with their windows rolled down, in their zooped up cars with the whole ‘doof-doof’ bass sound system going on. #STOPIT.

However, I don’t totally hate all of today’s music. By no means am I some music elitist with immense musical knowledge-- lets be real, I love boy bands-- these are just my useless opinions (lolz).

There are occasional shining lights that stick out amongst crappy clubbing top 40 anthems, and that shining light goes by the name of Mike Rosenberg, or Passenger as most of the world knows him. I had heard the name 'Passenger' floating around the interwebs and on a couple of music blogs a few years ago, however never truly paid attention to all the praise and hype that was slowly developing. However, in February this year,  I learnt the true beauty of Passenger's music, seeing him play in the Sydney Entertainment Centre as an opening act for the 'Ginger Prince' himself, Ed Sheeran. I was instantly in love with his unusual voice, witty lyrics and catchy melodies. 

Fortunately yesterday, I had the chance to see Passenger busk in Pitt Street Mall, and it was honestly such a great experience to see the man in action doing what he does best: playing an acoustic set--just pure angelic vocals and a guitar. It was also a massive plus that my friends and I were pretty close proximity-wise to him in a crowd of a couple hundred people. Here are a couple of photos from today (I apologise for the crappy photo quality and heads of hair that can be seen. Teen girls are just so darn tall these days, and iPhone picture quality isn't that flash peeps.)



Apart from singing a wide array of tunes from his 2012 album 'All The Little Lights' and older record 'Flight of the Crow,' he whipped out a couple of covers. My personal favourite was his folkish rendition of Bruce Springsteen's beloved hit, 'Dancing in the Dark' that had me awkwardly bopping along. Other crowd pleasers included his freestyle of Taylor Swift's [feat. goat noises] 'I Knew You Were Trouble' (Video of the original goat version here. Trust me this is a nugget of Youtube gold) and Haddaway's 'What is Love (Baby Don't Hurt Me).' 

Amongst his original tunes, my most treasured of the day were the songs 'I Hate' and 'The Wrong Direction.' 'I Hate' is one song that never fails to make me LOL/LMAO/ROFLMAO (i'm being metaphorical here, i don't actually roflao or lmao in real life...and if you do, I ain't judging, but there is a large chance that I will pull the :/ face at you). Whilst, 'The Wrong Direction' is just a super fun little tune to awkwardly dance to. However, the most popular of the day hands down, was the super lovely ballad 'Let Her Go.' It had everyone singing along--the dudes singing an octave low and off pitch (oopz), whilst teen girls sang like they were part of the Australian Girls National Choir singing 'I Still Call Australia Home' in all those cheeseball Qantas ads. Nevertheless, it was a super kawaii and intimate moment between Passenger and his fans. My video footage of 'The Wrong Direction' and 'Let Her Go' is below, so check it out yo! (Again I apologise for the crappy video quality, I filmed everything on my iPhone and it kinda sucks unfortunately. But nevertheless, they still showcase just how good his voice is live.) 

Let Her Go

The Wrong Direction

Before I ramble on, let me state an important fact here: Passenger currently holds the number one song in Australia with 'Let Her Go,' yet played a free intimate gig for his fans. If this doesn't make you see him as some sort of angel or make you coo "awwwww, what a nice guy" than I can tell you're a tough cookie to please. From what i've seen of him, Passenger is just a cool, endearing dude who just loves his music, and wants to thank his fans as much as possible. I also found it especially cute how in awe of the crowd he was, especially due to the fact that he used to busk in Pitt Street Mall a couple years back, where he said he basically had no people watching him (the pigeons were his main audience.) *cue Hilary Duff singing "hey now, hey nowwww, this is what dreamsss are made of" from the Lizzie McGuire movie*

Essentially, what i'm saying here is check out Passenger. If you like really chilled out, acoustic music by an amazing lyricist (think a la Ed Sheeran), he's your man. Plus, this dude is incredible live, and he occasionally busks for free when he's in town (whadda bonus!!!) Here's an official live version of my #1 favourite, 'I Hate.'

No comments:

Post a Comment