I Just Read About That…

[ATTENDED: September 29, 2022] Death Cab for Cutie

This was our third time seeing Death Cab for Cutie.  They put on a remarkably good show every time.  I was telling S. I feel al little bad for saying that I don’t feel like there’s anything extraordinary about them–nothing that blows me away.  However, I like just about everything they do.  They fall into a perfect, sweet spot for me.  I love Ben Gibbard’s voice.  They write excellent melodies.  And, as it turns out, their live shows are fantastic.

The whole evening was marked by weirdness though.  As we arrive, while waiting at the corner, we saw a car hit a guy on a bike.  They were both moving very slowly–the car was turning the corner and the bike was slowing to the parking area right after the corner, and I guess technically, the bike drove right into the car. The rider was uninjured, the car was unscratched.  It was clear that everyone just wanted to move on with their lives and so off they both went.  All before the light turned green for us.

Then, in the venue, we avoided the tall dudes (so many really tall dudes!) and wound up standing by this foursome.  After a minute it became very clear that the one guy was really, really drunk.  And I predicted he was going to down sooner rather than later.  The two women in their group wound up supporting this guy physically for the entire show.   Rubbing his back, patting his shoulders.  And sure enough within two songs he was on the ground.  Although he got up before security could get him and them out of there.  Instead, they wound up with the (in my opinion) worst show imaginable for these two women who were trying to support this idiot instead of sitting him down or just going home.

Ah well.  The good news was that he never caused enough crisis for the band to stop and they were blissfully unaware of that minor drama.

So Death Cab had just released a new album, Asphalt Meadows.  And they tend to play a lot of songs from their newest album.  On their previous tour, they were playing eight songs from the new album and on this one they played nine new songs.  But, since they typically pay nineteen songs per show, it’s not as if the show is dominated by new songs.  Plus, the new songs all sound like Death Cab for Cutie, so they fit in just right.

They opened with two new songs and then jumped back to “The New Year,” the song that opens Transatlanticism and one of my favorite opening songs of theirs.  I was sure we had heard them play it before, but apparently not.  It sounded great.

They followed it with the super catchy ‘Cath…” and the very old “A Movie Script Ending,” which they played at one of our two shows in 2019.

Their newest single “Here to Forever” is just great and it sounded fantastic live.

They played two of their great new(ish) songs “Black Sun” and “Northern Lights” (the only song from their previous album).  There were two new songs sandwiching the wonderful “Crooked Teeth.”   When introducing “Rand McNally” he told us about the time they played the Trocadero.

On the previous tour, the encore was “I Will Follow You Into The Dark” which Ben played solo.  This time, he played it mid-set and it was a nice surprise.  Ben left the stage for a slight breather while the band started “Your Heart is an Empty Room.”  They jammed the intro for a few minutes and then Ben Joined them.

After playing the title track from the new album, they played a bunch of older stuff, including “I will Possess Your Heart” with a great lengthy jamming intro and the sing along “Soul Meets Body.”

On the last tour, that was the final song before the encore break, but this time, Ben said he’d tell us a bedtime story while they played the largely spoken word “Foxglove Through the Clearcut,” the one song I was sure they wouldn’t play (shows what I know).  The song is pretty mellow, but they turned the ending in a raging jam–it was a fantastic ending.

For reasons I’m unclear about the woman behind us starting talking to her fella during this song.  Very loudly.  She then proceeded to talk to him through the encore break and for the next four songs.  Why not, again, just leave?

None of the four songs were played on the previous tour.  Two were new songs–I found it weird last time that they stick new songs in the encore, but it seems to work.  They also played “405” from their debut album.  He told a funny story about them driving to Philly straight through from Michigan, which included he and the their bass player (the only other member of the band who has been with them from the beginning) switched drivers in the car while they were careening down the highway.  They made it to Philly, but had to get a place to crash in Camden.  And then played a show where nobody bought a single piece of merch.  He concluded “Philly hates us.”

But we proved them wrong, he said.   They ended the show with “Bixby Canyon Bridge,” a song I didn’t really recognize but which many people did.  Last time they ended with the lengthy “Transatlanticism” which absolutely blew me away.  I wasn’t quite as blown away by “Bixby,” although it was certainly good and I really enjoyed the way they stretched out and rocked out the ending for a fantastic climax to the night.

Amazingly, that drunk guy stayed upright through to the end.

Incidentally, I looked up the band to see who was actually in the band for a while.  Turns out they had a bunch of drummers, but Jason McGerr (who is amazing), has been with them for nearly ten years.  The other two guys, Dave Depper and Zac Rae (both play guitars and keys, but Depper is more of the guitarist while Rae is more of the keys man) joined when Chris Walla left back around five years ago.  They are both terrific additions.

SETLISTS

ϖ We Have the Facts And We’re Voting Yes (2000)
∏ The Photo Album (2001)
™ Transatlanticism (2003)
¶ Plans (2005)
⇑ Narrow Stairs (2008)
⊗ Codes and Keys (2011)
℘ Kintsugi (2015)
¥ Thank You for Today (2018)
¿ Asphalt Meadows (2022)