I saw Passion Pit at Summerfest last night. Actually, "saw" might not be the right word, since I couldn't really see them. I couldn't much hear them either, for that matter. The Boston electro-pop group was playing the U.S. Cellular Connection Stage, one of the festival's more cramped and crowded stages (in part because it usually hosts some of the festival's younger draws), and the sound system couldn't quite kick enough watts to rattle those of us on the ground the way it probably did those standing on benches. It wouldn't be fair to post a formal review of the show, then, but what I could make out didn't sound tight at all, and the set suffered from the predictable, narrow set list that hinders any band touring behind their first album (apparently others were similarly disappointed).
Passion Pit's short show ended with time to catch the tail of Sheryl Crow's headlining performance at the much roomier Miller Lite Oasis, where abundant picnic tables offered plenty of standing space and great sight lines, even from the back. Resembling Sarah Jessica Parker with her pink top, gold tresses, scant frame and bleached teeth (well displayed through her permanent smile), Crow closed her show with a chipper run of songs: the summery "Soak Up The Sun," a light country tune I didn't recognize, the 1997 single "A Change Would Do You Good" and, as a finale, an unlikely cover of Led Zeppelin's "Rock and Roll" that proved there's no song Crow can't make quaint.
