Photos and commentary by Judy Won Photography. Do not use photos without permission.

On August 19th, English singer-songwriter Michael David Rosenberg, also known as Passenger, graced the Newport Music Hall stage with his melodic waves and soft spoken voice. After his single “Let Her Go” emerged in 2012, his career only grew higher and higher, going from performing on the side of the street, to playing the small Columbus venue, The Basement, to performing in a sold out 1,700 cap Newport Music Hall. He toured with old friend Ed Sheeran for a period of time, another British musician with the voice of a indie infused angel. “Let Her Go” went platinum in North America over 3 times, not including his newly acquired popularity in other parts of the world. His newly released album “Whispers”, won his past fans over, as well as many new ones with its melancholy, somber, beautifully pieced together songs.

While Passenger‘s performance was the highlight of the night, openers Stu Larsen and The Once also performed very well earlier in the night. Both bands are on the same label as Passenger, with Larsen performing with Passenger a numerous amount of times. I was very shocked to learn that Larsen’s set was only 4 songs long, but gained new fans in a record time. The Once opened with a beautiful acapella rendition of “Coming Back To You”. The band filled the night with a variety of instruments and strong, powerful vocals echoing throughout the room. They closed out their set with “We Are All Running” from their 2014 album “Departures”.

Michael Rosenberg’s soft spoken voice could even hush the unruliest of crowds, leaving one with a calming sensation after listening to him sing. Rosenberg opened up the show with “Fairytales & Firesides”, followed by an upbeat, happier version of “Life’s for the Living”, both songs which derived from his 2012 album “All the Little Lights”. A few songs into his performance, he came to the part in the night where a musician typically talks about the background story for one of their songs; nothing new or unique at all. But the sincerity and authenticity in Rosenberg’s story about “Riding to New York” was one to capture everyone’s attention in the entire room. He told the story of a man he saw on the side of the street, who was smoking a cigarette, something that Rosenberg has tried to rid of from his life for a very long time.

He overheard this man saying how that was his best cigarette ever, which caused Rosenberg to spark up a conversation with this mysterious stranger. The man told the story about how he was diagnosed with lung cancer, and was riding his motorcycle for one last from the West to the East coast visit to see his granddaughter again before he died. Throughout this whole story, he kept on struggling to explain why this one random moment affected his life so much, thus sparking the beautifully written “Riding to New York”. This unique, and touching story affected many in the crowd, causing a dead silence throughout the whole room possibly causing those who smoke to reflect on their lives and see what they’re truly doing to their bodies, or those who were with their loved ones to hold them closer and to appreciate their presence more.

As the night continued with a blend of emotional, depressing songs to happy, upbeat covers, Passenger kept the crowd on their feet, leaving then wanting more. He continued by playing his beautifully upbeat, and passionate song, “I Hate”. A song essentially about a list of things that he despises, which I personally happen to 100% agree with, which in turn made me fall in love with this British man even more. His voice is one thing, but his bubbly and shy personality took the cake, probably gaining a few hundred to thousands of new admirers every night. He also played “Caravan”, complimenting one of his fans having a very prominent whistle during the melodies, which Passenger then jokingly asked the stranger is he wanted to go out on tour. Following was his upbeat cover of Avicii’s “Wake Me Up”. I was honestly a little upset that he didn’t perform a full cover of that song, but it was quickly forgiven when he beautifully transitioned into “Let Her Go”; Literally, the transition was smooth and beautiful. He didn’t even have to sing the song if he wanted to, due to the fact that every single person in the crowd sang along to every word of this song, almost overpowering Passennger’s voice, even with the assistance of his microphone, monitors, amps, and more. He closed out the night by performing “Whispers” another crowd favorite.