Sunday, October 10, 2004

Death Cab for Cutie tonight. (Adjectives to follow). Great! Awesome! Super-duper! Ben Gibb-irifc!

It’s a wonderful, wonderful, feeling to see a band you love. It’s like they’re playing for YOU. Not anybody else in the audience. But you. You sing every lyric, you feel every timechange, you experience the moment to the best of your abilites. You make it a memory.

I feel privilged and proud to have taken my girlfriend to her first great indie rock show. We’ve tried once or twice before, not as much as I’d like, but when you live in a corner of the country, the shows are scare. (And nothing compares to my six years in San Francisco anyway.) BUT! Finally. Tonight, we saw a band that I’ve loved for a year – and seeing for my first time – one of her new favorite bands. Also lucky enough to see a band at a relatively small venue while they embark on their journey upwards in recognition and audience-size. The audience was huge. And the venue was amazing. Well-air-conditioned, a modified club or bar of the past with multiple levels, a huge stage, and a lot of elbow room. The place is called Revolution, in Fort Lauderdale. I have a feeling we’ll be there again.

Finally, the show: It’s a rare thing (unfortantely) in these days to find a band with a consistent career. Death Cab for Cutie have four, high-quality CD’s with the odd weak song, but for the most part, a very large and very A-material catalog. Even their B-sides are great (Check out Death Cab’s bjork cover, “All Is Full of Love” for a real treat.) They played for about an hour an half, focusing mainly on their last two albums, one of which is huge in the vast-growing indie rock eruption. (Latins have explosions, we’ve got a slow, gradual, imbuing of awesomness in main-stream music (see Franz Ferdinand)). Lots of people really into the new stuff and though I think they’re best work is The Photo Album, the new stuff feels real modern and fresh. The finale of the night, the title track, Transatlantisicm, was sweeping and gorgeous. And I’m not exaggerating. The guitarist and Decemberists producer Chris Walla was strange, with his zombie look and Interpol-like-guitar-in-hand-dancing. Ben Gibbard, famous now because of the sublime Postal Service, was equally and brilliantly impressive. He sang with a ferocity over raging guitars and with quiet gentles on slower, heart-ier, tracks. Highlights: “Blacking out the Friction,” “Lightness,” “Why’d You Want to Live Here?,” “Movie Script Ending,” “Title and Regristration,” and “Transatlanticism.”

They mentioned at the end of the show that they’d be back soon. Which could mean they’re touring around the country, possibly in support or preparation of new material. New album soon, I predict. Can’t wait.

Shout-out to Danya and Val, two girls with great taste in music.

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

Elad summed it all up pretty well....

This was my first real indie show (TV on the Radio was an outdoor show that was inaudible) and it could not have been a better one. For the past four months I have been absorbing D. Cab music from their 4 albums and the Gibbard Postal Service side project. From my first listen I was an instant fan. I am actually an indie convert from the hip-hop scene - so for me I always need a little booty shakin' to enjoy music - and I definitely found it in this show.

It is so rare for me to get to see a band I am soooo into at the very moment I am crazy about them. To be able to sing along with all of the songs and compare the live versions to the album versions - adds many levels to my listening pleasure! : Þ

I can't wait for all of my future shows - and thank you Elad for introducing me to this wonderful world!

Also...Danya and Val - thanks for coming out to the show with us - I hope you loved it as much as we did! That venue was a lot of fun – we will definitely need to go back there again – especially considering this was a show that I was finally able to actually see the band! (Val knows what I am saying!)

Oh, by the way----be on the look out for this new up and coming band - Layla and the Dancing Lesbians….they are drunk and under-age!

Also - I hear that silent Tourettes syndrome is spreading like wildfire...be safe.

elad said...

she's such a good student. :)

*proud*

Anonymous said...

their cover of all is full of love = <3
i was very impressed, i bought the photo album in australia and that cover was on it. i'm a lucky girl.

i hope youre doing well elad, i found you through shutterbug, sorry for semi stalking you ;)

but take care,
bre

elad said...

nice to "see" you, bre! no apology nessecary. i'm glad you've found the blog. the more readers the better!

their cover of All Is Full of Love IS spectacular. i have the READ: Interpeting bjork album that has a lot of bands doing bjork covers and even though Death Cab is not on there, they still have the best bjork cover I've heard.

they kick-some-definite-ass live. check 'em out if you have the opportinity.

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