On a night where most English people found themselves sitting in front of a screen watching the final moments of Euro 2024 crumble in front of their eyes, one Brighton singer stood on a Dublin stage on the 11th date of his ‘All The Little Lights’ Anniversary Tour.
Mike Rosenberg, or Passenger, took to the stage of Dublin’s Iveagh Gardens for a night celebrating the magic that is his 2013 album ‘All The Little Lights’ which included hit tracks Circles, Life’s For The Living, Holes, and without a doubt his most popular song Let Her Go, which has amassed over 2 billion Spotify streams since its release.
Kicking off the night was Amistat, made up of twin brothers Josef and Jan Prasil. The duo, whose inspirations and influences include Simon and Garfunkel, Ben Howard, Kings of Convenience, and Kodaline, performed a half hour set of chilled out folk songs, made up mostly of originals as well as a Lord Huron cover. The groups own Spotify bio claims Amistat as a band “definitely best enjoyed live. A safe place to be, to feel, to heal, and to inspire”, and their set was just that.
Amistat photos:
Following Amistat’s set and a brief changeover, Passenger took to the stage at 9 with just his guitar.
“Sorry if you were expecting a full band, but we’re now past the stage of refunds,” he joked, “this is going to be a very depressing 90 minutes”.
Kicking off the celebratory anniversary night with the album title track ‘All The Little Lights’, the former busker had the crowd in the palm of his hand, other than the few who were caught multitasking with the match on in one hand.
Although he claimed it to be a depressing 90 minutes, with many of the songs focusing on heartbreak, loss, love, etc, that did not stop the Lewis Capaldi-like stage banter and mid-song comedy sets and routines.
Passenger spoke during the show about his love for Ireland, and how he always enjoys playing over here, with mentions of Ireland in different songs on the setlist, some as recorded, others with slight lyric tweaks to fit the occasion.
It was during Let Her Go, Passenger’s most popular song (not to be confused with Frozen’s Let It Go he joked, apologising to any young girls who were hoping to catch a Disney princess), that the result of Spain winning came through which caused an Irish cheer. “You guys are loving this”, he joked, questioning whether an Irish date during an English final was a good choice.
Despite a 2020 BBC report claiming Passenger as a one-hit wonder, this is far from the truth. Songs like “Scare Away the Dark”, “Simple Song”, “I hate”, and “Holes” all had the crowd screaming at the top of their lungs – I haven’t seen a crowd respond so well to a performers demands (sing louder, sing with me, sing this part etc) in a long time, and will definitely be keeping an eye out for future Passenger performances this side of the water.
Passenger’s ‘All The Little Lights’ anniversary tour continues its UK / EU run into August, before heading over to the States, and then onto Australia. For fans of live music, this one is one I’d definitely recommend.
Passenger photos:
Words & photos – Liam Murphy @liammurphypics