Passenger at 3Arena – Review & Photos

Mike Rosenberg, aka Passenger, took to the stage at Dublin’s 3Arena alone, without a band, just like in the old days of busking. Five full years of busking and a lot of perseverance is what Passenger had to go through before “Let Her Go”, the 455 million-YouTube-views hit that took him out of the dark straight into the limelight.

Visibly overwhelmed by the 6,000 people in front of him, Passenger began his set with a sincere “It’s just me and my guitar tonight”. The first tune, “Rolling Stone” – off his latest album, “Whispers”, was a quick and well received warm-up.

In spite of his apparent shyness, Passenger handles a crowd rather well, even when the energy level isn’t particularly high. The years of busking in front of strangers of all kinds are paying off.

Bits and pieces from songs like Haddaway’s “What Is Love” or Simon&Garfunkel’s “Sound Of Silence” were sprinkled between his own songs in a successful attempt to get people to sing. A long story involving smoking, a bearded biker and a US gas station, almost got people uninterested, but the following song lifted the spirits right back.

Using the good momentum, Passenger brought out the big guns. The song that most of us thought would be saved for the encore, “Let Her Go”, was an unexpected but welcomed treat.

With the help of his own interpretation of Avicii’s “Wake Me Up”, Passenger pushed the set to the last tune before the encore. “Scare Away The Dark” got people singing from the top of their lungs once again. A series of “Oh, Oh, Oh, Oh”s continued well after the song ended and didn’t stop until the star of the show came back for the encore. Once again, visibly touched by the reactions from his Irish fans, Passenger began his three song encore, not before reminiscing his previous 3Arena/The O2 appearance as support to “a ginger bloke”  – Ed Sheeran, obviously.

The second song of the encore saw The Once, the supporting act, back to the stage for a medley of Passenger’s “Light A Fire”, Bruce Springsteen’s “Dancing In The Dark” and Fleetwood Mac’s “You Can Go Your Own Way”.

All in all, Passenger delivered, and his diehard fans did not leave the 3Arena disappointed. A full band, a couple more mainstream hits and a touch of confidence will make his next Dublin appearance even more enjoyable.

Photos by Anamaria Meiu