A while back, Linden’s husband, Rob, wrote a guest post on her blog about Death Cab for Cutie’s latest album. I couldn’t have agreed more with Rob’s assessment once I listened to their new album, Narrow Stairs. A week has now gone by since my sister and I saw Death Cab in concert, and I’m just now getting the chance to share how it went…so I apologize for the delay. (Don’t worry: I won’t try to be a music critic.)
First off, let me begin by saying that if The Kooks would have had any CD’s at their merch table, I would have bought one right away. Although I’d heard of them before, I’d never actually heard their music until that night. I loved it!
Death Cab started their set with the new Bixby Canyon Bridge. What I love about seeing Death Cab live is that they don’t merely play their latest album from start to finish. On the other hand, they also aren’t a band to simply plays a list of their greatest hits either. So what followed was an hour of old favorites such as Tiny Vessels, Photobooth, The New Year, etc. mixed in with newer ones such as Soul Meets Body, and Marching Bands of Manhattan among others. From the new album, I Will Possess Your Heart and No Sunlight were the two that really stood out to me. Their encore was about 5 or so songs: a bonus half hour!
On a side note, this wouldn’t be a design blog if I didn’t at least mention a few opinions on the graphic design at the concert. I really like their new album cover: I thought it really brought out the depth and layering that’s present in their sound. (It almost has a contemporary quilting look to it. That, and I love that the liner notes booklet isn’t cut flush.) So when the stage’s backdrop unfurled during Bixby Canyon, I approved. I also approved the tour date shirts playing off of the album art. I got one with a cute stair step design on it (sorry no picture yet). But other than the 2 or 3 with the album art, I was kind of disappointed…their t-shirts have an awesome reputation for being well-designed, but there really wasn’t anything at the merch table to live up to that. Bummer.
As Rob mentioned, Death Cab’s sound just keeps building. The new songs don’t sound out of place when mixed with the old: the result is a live music experience with rich layering. So all in all, a great time, a great show, and definitely worth seeing if a tour date happens to be where you live.
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2 responses so far ↓
1 Linden // Jun 7, 2008 at 4:46 pm
Awesome! Sounds like a great concert. I am curious about “I Will Possess Your Heart”! Did they play the long version? The version that’s on the CD?
I like the Kooks! I need to check out more of their stuff.
2 admin // Jun 7, 2008 at 6:15 pm
Funny you should ask: they played the long version with the bass intro. Our friend turned to us and was like “what are they doin’?!” Ha! I explained it was the cd cut of the song.
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