Photographs by Valerio Berdini
Back in May, a few of my friends went to see Death Cab for Cutie at the Electric Ballroom. Anyone listening to them bang on about it upon their return could be forgiven for thinking that they had actually gone to see Jesus or Batman or something.
The incessant fawning and the constant reminders of how I “so should’ve gone, seriously” finally got the better of me. When a date was announced for the 14th of July at Koko I wrote myself a reminder on my calendar - ‘go to death cab’.
Predictably, by the time this show had worked it’s way around I was really looking forward to it. This was to be my first Death Cab for Cutie gig and I was fully prepared to be blow away. I wasn’t.
This isn’t necessarily Death Cab’s fault. They played an interesting and varied set, nobody could accuse them of neglecting their back-catalogue ‘New Year’ and ‘Crooked Teeth’ were particular highlights, while the new material seems to make perfect sense live, representing encouraging development for an already seasoned band. ‘I Will Possess Your Heart’ is also a great live experience.
What fell short then? Well pretty much everything else, unfortunately. The venue was absolutely packed, with a fairly significant element of semi-interested, casual observers who were happy to have a chat and a pint. The sound was pretty woeful, the band sounded distinctly as though they were playing in the next room. The atmosphere was sapped as a result, Death Cab had an uphill struggle to engage the audience, even without the technical difficulties that plagued them. Most frustrating.
None of this, however, seemed to be able to cloud the performances of ‘I Will Follow You Into The Dark’ and ‘Transatlanticism’ the former inspiring one of those rare moments when it’s actually okay for the audience to sing along, the latter reminding just exactly why it remains such a seminal anthem.
I was pretty disappointed with the way things turned for this show, if anything it’s really inspired a need in me to go and see Death Cab for Cutie again - which leaves me back at square one, really.
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July 18th, 2008 at 3:17 pm
Had this problem last night. DCFC were ace, I Will Possess Your Heart absolutely kills live, but I don’t know how many times I had to tell people to shut up.
Surely it’s a cheaper night just to go to the pub to have a few pints and a chat rather than go to a gig and do the same.
Grrrrr….
July 21st, 2008 at 11:58 am
I haven’t read your review in advance Peter, so I am pretty happy to read we totally agree and I am not being funny.
Now give me a time machine and let me fly back to the Electric Ballroom, please!
ciao
Vale
July 28th, 2008 at 4:51 pm
thanks for a great review and the cool photos. I agree that there were a load of fairweather fans there but the chance to see them this close (apart from the Electric Ballroom gig you mentioned) was too good to miss. What was impressive was how the new songs blended in with the old ones.