Welcome to the first part.
Wednesday, February 24th 2009.
I’ve been waiting too long for this. Being a big fan since their Transatlanticism days, I’ve been waiting for Death Cab for Cutie’s concert for a long time. Ben Gibbard is my favorite singer of all time along with the late Elliott Smith. He’s got the kind of voice that blends perfectly with the sound of acoustic guitar. While many singers tried too hard to channel John Mayer’s raspy voice, Gibbard’s voice was the opposite of Mayer’s, but sounded equally great. That being said, I missed last year’s Death Cab for Cutie concert due to the lack of funds at that time (damn you, new apartment!). I didn’t expect them to go back this soon to Melbourne, but when the opportunity presents, I didn’t hesitate to buy the ticket. This time I was accompanied by my other 3 friends.
We tried going to the venue as soon as we can. That was about 3 hours before the initial concert. We got to the venue, Forum theatre, at approximately 2 hours before the door open. We searched for the gate and only found a couple of people lining up before the door. It’s a bit too early, and the weather was quite windy so we decided to look for a coffee shop nearby. About two blocks away we stopped at Starbucks. What a coincidence, drinking Seattle’s coffee before seeing an actual Seattle-based band, I thought. I took a seat with a friend while my other friend queued for coffee. Two minute later, someone walked in on the door behind me. My friend, who sat opposite me, looked up and wrinkled his chin as if someone familiar has walked in. He then called me and said, “hey, is that Ben Gibbard?”
I took a glance toward the man walking to the counter. His hair was at the length of his shoulder. It was a brown-ish colored checkered shirt. Beside him is a tall almost-bald fella. My heart started to pound. “No way, man.” I said dismissing his remarks, even though I know that this guy fits the description of Ben Gibbard, at least from behind. My friend insisted,”That’s him. That must be him. Look at his shirt. That’s Ben Gibbard’s kind of shirt! And that guy next to him must be the drummer. DCFC’s drummers is kinda bald”.
Being filled with excitement and curiousity, I decided to get up and take a closer look at these guys. I went to the counter pretending to go to my other friend who’s waiting for his order at the pick-up counter. I got a good look at them from there. Holy shit, It WAS Ben Gibbard! I was jumping up and down (on the inside, at least). There he was my favorite singer, only three feet away from me. Two of the members of my favorite band. Getting coffee in the same coffee shop as I was, at the same time too. What are the odds? I told my friend, Kevin, who’s at the counter and pointed at him that Ben Gibbard is there at the counter. He confirmed it. He was also 100% positive that it was indeed Ben Gibbard. I called up my friend who’s sitting at the table to join us at the counter. And then Kevin gather his courage and approached Ben.
The rest of us were waiting, with a camera ready at our hands.
“excuse me, are you Ben Gibbard?”
“Yes, I am.”
Kevin replied once again, “THE Ben Gibbard?”
“I think so, yeah”
“We’re a big fan. We actually are going to your concert tonight.”
“Oh. Cool.”
“Wow. (Long awkward pause) Mmmm… Do you mind taking picture with us?”
“Not at all. But can we do it outside?”
“Okay”
Kevin walked back toward us, looking as excited as ever. I knew that, like me, he LOVED Death Cab for Cutie. Like me, He loved Postal Service. And like me, He loved Ben Gibbard (as a singer, I mean). We patiently waited outside while peeking at Ben and the drummer, Jason McGerr. They came out and we were ready. We asked a random guy to take a photo of us with Ben and Jason. And snap! Just like that we got our very own photo with half of Death Cab for Cutie. We said thanks to them for the photo op, and wished them a good show tonight. They walked off right after that, presumably to the concert hall, and we were left standing there outside Starbucks, in disbelief of what just happened.
Now, we proceed to the venue, with big smile on our faces. I pitied those who waited with us at the door, because they didn’t know what we just experienced. The doors were opened on time. We managed to buy the merchandise before entering the hall. The four of us bought the same t-shirt, and wore it instantly. We were like one of those crazy fanboys. At 7.45 pm the lights were dimmed, and Youth Group opened up the concert. Didn’t really care that much about them because I saw them opening for Interpol last year. However, they were not bad. Some of the songs managed to make me feel dancy. They‘re on for about 30 minutes, and we’re on for the real show.
Death Cab took the stage. Under the cheering crowd, Ben Gibbard took the right side of the stage, Walla on the left, Nick Harmer on the center, and McGerr sat on his drum set right behind Harmer. Interesting facts, Gibbard and Harmer wore the exact same shirt when they met us earlier that day. That means they just ran for a quick coffee, by themselves, and went straight back to prep whatever it is they were preparing. The stage wasn’t all that big. No decoration or backdrops were visible. A bit disappointing.
The opening track was Marching Bands of Manhattan, a song which I always viewed as the perfect opening for their concert, along with Bixby Canyon Bridge. There were some sing along in the song, and Gibbard’s voice was just great. After they finished the song, Gibbard greeted the crowds with “We’re Death Cab for Cutie! Dig it!”. And just like that, the crowds roared. Cheerings are heard all over. It was going to be a great show. Of course it was.
From what I saw, they performed better when they’re live. Chris Walla, the guitarist, may look like (and surely dressed like) a dork, but it was clear that he was the driving force behind the band. His guitar fills and riffs really gave the extra edge to each and every song they make. Hammer is a great performer. With his new beard, which gave him the Leonidas vibe, he rocked the hardest. Swinging his bass, pounding hard on those strings and even jumped once on stage just to show us how excited he was. McGerr, on the other hand, is very cool and precise. Never let emotion took over, and never made a mistake either. Ben Gibbard showed me why I loved his voice in the first place. Everything is just as I imagined. Gibbard and Walla traded some occasion to play the piano on some songs.
Concert highlights: After finishing Soul Meets Body, Walla and Harmer sat tightly on the stage as Gibbard played I Will Follow You into The Dark acoustically. It was greeted with mass sing along among the crowd. For the whole song Walla, Harmer, and McGerr kinda mesh with the crowd and enjoyed Gibbard’s performance, which was flawless in my opinion. Transatlanticism, the last song they played, was also a joy to watch. It builds up slowly before reaching its peak when the song reached the “I need you so much closer” part. It was the perfect song the end the concert.
The bad part of the whole concert was the crowd. I thought the crowd was neither eager nor excited to watch them performed. Most of them just stand there and stare without moving their bodies or sing along to the songs. That was a major disappointment. The stage and decoration was very minimal. No evidence of great lighting or exquisite set decoration.
The concert lasts for about two hours. The words “I need you so much closer” still echoed afterwards, even when I was back at home. I went to sleep with a complete playlist of my favorite Death Cab songs running on my computer. It was a great night.
Final judgement:
Perfomance: 4/5
Stage/décor/lights: 3/5
Crowd: 2.5/5
Overall: 3.5/5
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