Concert Review: Death Cab for Cutie

In the interest of full disclosure you should know that I'm a massive Death Cab for Cutie fan. With that said, I'm going to try to keep this objective. I caught the band tonight in Brooklyn's McCarren Pool, which (as the name suggests) is a defunct swimming pool turned concert venue. Despite today's sweltering high temperature in the mid-nineties, over 6,000 fans turned out for the sold out show.

Rogue Wave opened the show with a spirited performance that outdid my expectations. The band played fan favorite "Lake Michigan" and "Lullaby" in album sequence, a decision that drew their biggest cheers of the set. While overall impressive, their performance seemed too simple for the large venue.

Death Cab for Cutie kicked off their set with "Bixby Canyon Bridge," the first track of their latest release Narrow Stairs. While this was the band's sixth studio album, it was the first to debut at number one on Billboard. Because of this success, I expected the set to be saturated with new material. Instead, DCFC hit the audience with a sampler of their entire catalog, although fans were especially receptive to songs off Narrow Stairs.

Of note was Cath, a song which found Ben Gibbard without a guitar singing to the audience as a true frontman. His confidence was surprising, not the wounded puppy one would expect when listening to his love songs. More could have been done with "I Will Possess Your Heart," as the long introduction leaves much room for artistic interpretation. The band, however, played the CD version of the song note for note.

Throughout the set, the level of intensity brought by every band member was astounding. Death Cab probably graces my sleep mixes more than any other band, but the live performance was high energy rock and roll throughout. I chalk that up to the sheer number of years these musicians have been playing together. They seemed at ease on stage together, focused on delivering a seamless performance.

The concert ended thirty minutes early as high winds started pulling the rigged lights down, a situation unsafe for band and crew. The last song Death Cab played was "The Sound of Settling." This is a completely average song, BUT something about the juxtaposition of the wind and the swirling purple clouds and the lighting made it seem frenetic and panicked. Immediately after DCFC left the stage, it started pouring big, sloppy raindrops.

It was obviously a bummer that the show ended early, but that also kind of made the concert perfect. I'm sitting here wondering which songs would have been played. Writing my own setlist means I'll never be disappointed by the concert. (Incidentially, my concert would have ended with "405," "Your Heart Is An Empty Room," "Transatlanticism" and "Brothers on a Hotel Bed.")

Death Cab for Cutie - "Cath (Live)"

Death Cab for Cutie - "The Sound of Settling"