Seattle's Death Cab for Cutie first came to the attention of the general public around the release of 2003's Transatlanticism. Several of the tracks from this album were used in many popular American TV programs, namely The OC, within which Seth Cohen, one of the main characters was a self-confessed Death Cab superfan. They also appeared on the show in season two. From there they signed to Atlantic Records and released their first major label album Plans in 2005.
Tonight sees them in the middle of a short tour to promote the release of their second major label album Narrow Stairs, due out next week. The capacity of tonight's venue is a mere 1000, much smaller than they're used to (they return in July to play the 5000 capacity Brixton Academy) so it's only the real hard core fans who have grabbed tickets for this one, ensuring that the atmosphere will be amazing.
They arrive on stage promptly at 9pm and with nothing but a cheerful 'Hi' they get straight to business. The opening double salvo of the undulating 'Bixby Canyon Bridge' and the anthemic 'The New Year' is a powerful one. It might seem out of place for 1000 people to be yelling 'So this is the new year!' at the beginning of May, but tonight it seems natural. This is Death Cab's world and we're all being sucked into it.
The band are in full swing from the off, lead singer Ben Gibbard never seems to stop hopping from foot to foot as if he's standing on hot coals whilst they bust out several their loveable indie tunes from their now sizeable back catalogue. They even find time to throw in non-album track 'Photobooth' for the fans. Several tracks from the forthcoming album are dropped in along the way and all go down very well, the only slight downer is the mellow 'Talking Bird' which works nicely in the context of the album but seems rather boring onstage. It's not a problem, we all needed a moment to catch our collective breath anyway.
The tempo is upped to a new high when Death Cab jump into a frenetic rendition of 'Soul Meets Body' which has Gibbard hopping more madly than before and the crowd are enjoying every second of it. This is immediately followed by the mid-set highlight; a double header of 'I Will Follow You Into the Dark' and 'I Will Possess Your Heart'. The former sees Gibbard on his own in a spellbinding singalong that is evidence of the power that one man and and an acoustic guitar can create when everything is done right (see video). The latter is an eight-minute epic and also happens to be the lead-off single from the new album. The fact that Death Cab would even write a song expanding beyond the eight minute mark let alone release it as a single is testament to how they have grown greatly in confidence and as a band over the years. This confidence is clearly well founded tonight and it oozes out of them onstage. Seeing these two songs juxtaposed mid set is a great snapshot of the two extremes that Death Cab's songs can reach, and they manage to hit just about every single peak in between.
Video: 'I Will Follow You Into The Dark'
'We Laugh Indoors' is an extremely enjoyable surprise towards the end of the main set, and at this point it couldn't be clearer that the band is having the time of their lives. Guitarist Chris Walla mouths along all the words while he plays as if he is just another die-hard fan in the crowd, whilst Nicholas Harmer thrashes around at centre stage, the heavily bearded bassist is seemingly lost amid the euphoria.
When the band leaves the stage its hard for me to see them go, and it seems the same for everyone else in the crowd. Each and every person is kicking, stamping, clapping and bursting lungs in cheering to get them back on to the stage. This is not a request, this is an order.
They return to the stage to bring an encore of the finest quality, starting off with my personal favourite 'Title & Registration', which is another great singalong moment. The best of tonight's new songs, 'Cath...' is saved for the encore too and they rock it out harder than on the album, a great performance.
Finally comes the ending couplet of 'Your Heart is an Empty Room' followed by the magnificent 'Transatlanticism'. The emotional verve of 'Empty Room' comes and goes in three and a half minutes of pure bliss and leads off perfectly for the ultimate closer. 'Transatlanticism' is the crescendo of all crescendos, starting off slowly and gradually building into a tumultuous cacophony of beautiful noise that sees all four band members pouring all of their strength into the final few bars, particularly drummer Jason McGerr who is hitting his kit so hard it's a wonder that nothing breaks. Then suddenly it cuts out perfectly, leaving just Gibbard and his voice to sing out the last few notes over the heady applause from the crowd. This by far the best ending to a gig that I have ever seen.
Before the band leaves the stage Gibbard has one last message; "Thanks you guys, this has been the best show we have played for a long time" and you know he is being sincere. The feeling is mutual, and I absolutely cannot wait to see them again at Latitude Festival in July.
Rating: 9.5/10
Best Part: The final repeated chorus of "Come ooooooooon!" at the end of 'Transatlanticism'
If you don't know Death Cab here are 5 of my favourite songs for you to check out (click to download):
I Will Follow You into The Dark (from Plans)
Title and Registration (from Transatlanticism)
Transatlanticism (From Transatlanticism)
Grapevine Fires (From Narrow Stairs)
A Movie Script Ending (From The Photo Album)
The rest of my photos are avaliable here <----click
Video: 'Your Heart is an Empty Room'
3 comments:
"juxtaposed" - niiiice!
Awesome, I saw them in 2004 and they put on a great show, would've loved to catch Cath and We Laugh Indoors.
belated photos, review and setlist at gigcam blog.
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