The last time Passion Pit performed in Columbus, the stage was flanked by an audience wielding hundreds of colorful glow sticks.

This time the band will perform at the Lifestyle Communities Pavilion instead of the Newport to accommodate more fans, but guitarist and keyboardist Ian Hultquist hopes the audience light things up with glow sticks once again.

The March 31 show is sold out, an indication of the band’s growing popularity.

“The Reeling” reached No. 34 on Billboard’s Alternative Songs chart.
“Little Secrets” has seen several days in the top-five-most requested songs on CD 101.1 FM in recent weeks.

At Target, Passion Pit’s CD is filed under the up-and-coming artists tab.
“They’re fun to dance to,” said Megan Grunewald, a student in English who first heard Passion Pit at Oldfield’s on High.

Passion Pit is a slang term for drive-in movie theaters, but Hultquist said he has never been to one.

The band name was chosen from the word-of-the-day at Emerson College where lead singer Michael Angelakos attended.

All five band members are in their 20s and their familiartiy with computers helped Passion Pit gain popularity.

The “Chunk of Change” EP was written by Angelakos as a gift to his girlfriend. She uploaded the music to MySpace and it started to be passed around.

Hultquist heard the songs and suggested to Angelakos that they form a band and begin performing the songs.

Syd Butler of Frenchkiss Records came to a show and liked the music so much, he signed a contract with Passion Pit.

“I never thought this band would get signed,” Hultquist said. “It was just fun.”

Hultquist studied film scoring at Berklee College of Music but was uninterested in moving to L.A. to do an internship because he wanted to move to New York City.

He has been in a band for as long as he can remember, so performing was an easy choice, he said.

Critics have compared Passion Pit to MGMT, and Hultquist said he agreed when “Chunk of Change” was released, but he thinks “Manners” set them apart.

He called “Seaweed Song” one of his favorites from the album and said he often plays it to himself on an acoustic guitar because it is so beautiful.

Popularity triggers ambivalence in Hultquist.

“If I hear myself on the radio, I go to the bathroom or go outside for a minute,” Hultquist said. “I get embarrassed.”

However, he loves playing for a live audience, he said.

Feb. 4, 5 and 6, Passion Pit played in Japan. The audience reaction was different from what the band expected, Hultquist said.

“It was sort of like VH1 Storytellers,” he said.

The audience was deathly silent between songs, but during the performance, many people began singing along and pumping their fists in the air.

After talking to other musicians that had performed in Japan, the band realized the silence was not negative, but a sign that the audience was involved in the music and respectful of the band, Hultquist said.

Passion Pit does not have many pre-show superstitions, but the band does get together before walking onstage to chant a gibberish phrase in a Scottish accent.

The band admires Phoenix for the band’s music and business decisions, Hultquist said.

Hultquist is currently involved in a side project with his girlfriend, and he said in the future his career will involve music, even if it is not with Passion Pit.

For now, though, the band enjoys touring and performing for its growing fan base, Hultquist said.