I am Chris, and this is my heart.
As promised, here’s my review of Thursday’s Death Cab For Cutie concert.
The concert, the second of two NYC dates for Death Cab, was held at the Hammerstein Ballroom. I had never been there before, and it’s really a gorgeous venue. It’s just large enough to accomodate a good-sized audience yet still retain a sense of intimacy. The ceiling art and chandeliers added to the atmosphere. By that, I mean they gave me something to look at while waiting for the bands to come out.
Stars, a Montreal-based indie-pop group, opened. Utilizing lots of electronic sounds and the format of male/female duets, they craft earnest, sappy pop songs. Due to the electronic elements, I would compare Stars a little to the Postal Service. At the same time, they have a very different and distinct sound. For an opener, they were really good—excellent chemistry, solid stage presence, interaction with the audience. Admittedly, before the show, I probably liked Stars more than Death Cab.
Death Cab puts on quite the live show. Ben Gibbard is a better showman than I had expected. His playing of drums during We Looked Like Giants was absolutely brilliant. He has a really great live voice, too. Death Cab covered lots of their extensive catalog, both new and old. I’m mostly familiar with Transatlanticism, from which they played five songs. They closed the regular set with The Sound Of Settling, which turned into an audience sing-along. The encore consisted of three songs. The first song was I Will Follow You Into The Dark, performed solo by Gibbard. After that, the full band came on stage for two more songs, concluding the concert with a rocking performance of Expo ‘86.
Overall, it was a great concert. Although, I didn’t really appreciate the guy in front of us, who kept yelling obscenities throughout both acts. I’m not sure why he was even there. He especially seemed to hate Stars. Ugh.
So, that’s my review of the concert.
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