Radio 104.5's 8th annual birthday show: Rock for Mother's Day

The crowd at radio 104.5 FM's sold-out eighth annual "Birthday Show" at the Susquehanna Center on Sunday was decidedly young. On this Mother's Day, it seemed that many local young adults care more for music than for Mom.

Then again, this concert line-up was something mothers could love. Despite a few dark souls, the schedule that showed the happy face of post-post-post-post-punk.

I even thought I heard some nonspecific-insignia-T-shirt-wearing moms - more of them, actually, than the nonspecific insignia-T-shirt-wearing kids - cheering Irish singer Hozier. At such an upbeat birthday bash, it was weird to hear his crepuscular "Like Real People Do" and his brooding, baritone presence. Every background vocal sounded like a gathering of battered angels. But Hozier purposely inserted a "fun song" cover (a burly version of "1 Thing" by Amerie), and "Take Me to Church" was an anthemic call to action. Besides, for all his pensive sadness, the wavy-haired Hozier was one good-looking guy.

Only Michael Angelakos of Passion Pit rivalled Hozier in the looks department. Angelakos' falsetto was as commanding as Hozier's voice was warm. Passion Pit's synth-soul pop has grown more frenetic and energetic with time, demonstrated in the icy midtempo "Lifted Up (1985)" and the fluttering "Until We Can't (Let's Go)," from their recently released, ballad-heavy new album, Kindred.

Death Cab for Cutie is also famous for its dark side. Leader Ben Gibbard did not lack for a caustic sense of humor to go with his Cuties' cranky brand of mellow yacht rock. In fact, as his band's production has grown slicker (as in 2015's Kintsugi), its live sound has grown more muscular, as evidenced on the Neil Young-ish "Black Sun" and the fragile "No Room in Frame" and "I Will Possess Your Heart."

Iceland's Of Monsters and Men and its frontwoman, Nanna Bryndís Hilmarsdóttir, clad in flowing robes, had a hippie-ish Björk vibe. They have a new, synth-drone sound that combines with stomping folksy roots on songs such as "Hunger" and "Thousand Eyes."

The show might have had more of a climax had 104.5 made Hozier the headliner. "Take Me to Church" would have sounded amazing wafting through the night's soft breezes.