By survey of “thumbs-ups,” We Were Promised Jetpacks periodically checked their crowd’s satisfaction on Thursday evening at Royale. And to their surprise, the audience flung up a surging sea of opposable digits every time. Having opened up for Passion Pit the night before, vocalist Adam Thompson returned the listeners’ praise as he giddily announced that he could “finally relate to an audience.”
Thompson gallantly sang “Roll Up Your Sleeve” while drummer Darren Lackie fastened the band to his unrelenting beat. The audience clapped along with the metronomic pulse as lights singed blind-spots into their vision. Guitarist Michael Palmer stretched the final note to its brink, and the audience followed his lead as he melded the song into the next.
Bassist Sean Smith injected rumbling substance into the throbbing introduction of “It’s Thunder and It’s Lightening.” The crowd recognized the resolute melody and fired shouts of approval. En route to the climax, Palmer attempted to break tension with sprays of glockenspiel, but soon enough, Thompson unleashed his heroic, hollow-chested cry. The faithful audience sung along. And with Lackie’s kick-drum thumps pounding in all chests, everyone shared a heart-beat.
WWPJ, nearing the end of their North American tour, left Royale with a few parting gifts. Besides performing new songs “Boy in the Backseat” and “Hard to Remember,” Thompson, with sincerity, wished his audience-cohorts a great life, should he never see them again. Hopefully his farewell was not in fact final, as it’s evident that WWPJ appreciates us as much as we appreciate them.