Passenger announces solo SA tour
Before becoming a solo artist, the musician was initially backed by a band.
Michael Rosenberg, known as Passenger, opens for Ed Sheeran at FNB Stadium. Picture: Tracy Lee Stark
Big Concerts and AEG Presents have announced that due to an exceptional response to his support slot on Ed Sheeran’s recent tour in South Africa, Passenger has confirmed solo dates for fans.
There have always been two sides to Mike Rosenberg, aka Passenger. One is the epic, radio-friendly sound represented by his international number one single, Let Her Go, and his UK number one album, Young as the Morning, Old as the Sea (2016), and the other is the more introverted, singer-songwriter side on Whispers II (2015) and The Boy Who Cried Wolf (2017).
Runaway, the new album, finds Passenger embracing the epic again. The melodies are unforgettable, the choruses colossal.
The album, Rosenberg’s 10th in 11 years, was recorded in the UK and Australia with his co-producer, Chris Vallejo, but its aesthetic is North American. Some of the lyrics refer to specific locations.
“My Dad is American,” he explained. “And we used to go over every other summer when we were kids. I loved it.”
Rosenberg imagined these songs as an unfolding backdrop of American landscapes. And so he and video director Jarrad Seng made videos on a road trip across the US.
His first album was Wicked Man’s Rest in 2007.
Initially he was backed by a band, then became a solo artist. He busked, mostly in Australia and New Zealand, then came a year touring the world in support of Ed Sheeran and Let Her Go followed.
He smiled about the “two years running round the world after that song” for which he won an Ivor Novello award.
Info
- 23 November at the Ticketpro Dome, Joburg
- 26 November at the Grand Arena, Cape Town
- Tickets for the public go on sale on April 3 from bigconcerts.co.za
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