This show was at The Middle East, which seems like a nice place. After my friend was sas I have to say, they are some happy, feel-good tunes. Back to the show, the couple came on stage and introduced themselves. Jason tried telling a joke, try being the operative word. Kori shot down his comic attempt by saying he can't tell jokes. It was a precious moment. They opened with a song I don't know, but it got the crowd going. They then busted into "Ha Ha" and The Middle East was turned into a 24-hour dance party zone. Other songs I recognized were "Fluke," "Parachutes," and "A Duel Will Settle This." That's not to say the rest of their set wasn't rocking, though. It was rocking. You can tell a band is good, at least live, if they keep your interest for the entire set. The two of them interact well, even without talking to each other. They shot each other cute glances across stage and all I could think was, "how precious." I enjoyed them, although I was standing right next to the PA and my ears are still ringing (this show was last Friday)! I probably should've picked up one of their cd's, as they were selling for only ten clams, but I forgot.
[Witty transition] and Death Cab was ready to rock. I felt a little in the dark here because I knew they would play older stuff, and I'm not familiar with it. You can imagine what I was thinking as they opened with a song I wasn't familiar with. Imagine me thinking: "Great, this is going to set the tone for the rest of the show and you're not going to have a good time. You should have stayed home and wallowed in your loneliness." But that's exactly where I was wrong. After the opener, they went right into "A Movie Script Ending," and didn't stop there! Throughout the course of their hour-and-a-half-or-so set, they played stuff from the Photo Album ("Why You'd Want to Live Here," "I Was A Kaleidoscope," and "Styrofoam Plates"), some new choice cuts from Transatlanticism (The first seven tracks and "We Looked Like Giants"), "Photobooth" from the Forbidden Love EP, and an assortment of old stuff/songs I didn't know. Singer/guitarist Ben Gibbard and guitarist Chris Walla talked back and forth between every few songs, while the other band members just stood there, trying to look busy. I thought this slightly odd but nothing bad can be said about it. They were great on stage, to my surprise. I figured they would just stand around and mope, but they actually moved around like rock and roll was in their veins, and occasionally rocked out to the fullest. The bassist gets the award for the most rocking out, as during the pseudo-closer "Transatlanticism," he was punching his bass and stomping and just going totally out-of-limits! After said tune, they "left" and a collective groan was heard from the crowd. But I knew there was something in store. Their amps were still on, the equipment still on stage. I thought, "Death Cab, are you tricking me? Are you actually going to play a few more songs? You guys!" This was confirmed when they walked back on stage and picked up their instruments. They played four more songs, and even worked a Cure cover (Love Song) into their set! I knew at that moment that this show would be put in my "Wackiest Shows of 2003" list.
This was a good show. Be sure to see this show if it's near you. If you're like me, you will have one heck of a wacky and fun time. And who can say no to a wacky and fun time?