Death Cab for Cutie - 10/24/2003 - Middle East Downstairs, Cambridge, MA
Okay. Have now, finally, gone to a Death Cab for Cutie show. Insert very very happy sigh [here].
Mates of State opened and they were pretty fun. I got there towards the end of their set, but I caught about 30 minutes worth and the noises they made were really interesting. Their lyrics didn't kill me, but the musical stuff they did compensated pretty well.
Death Cab came on after and played for about 2 hours. I think they managed to cram in every single one of my favorite songs. Then again, they're one of those groups where almost every song is a favorite so it wasn't that hard to please me.
They have the concert banter down to an art. I hadn't realized how little banter I'd been getting at shows lately until it appeared again. Over the course of the evening topics such as oral surgery, the smell factor of concert clothing after repeated wearing, and bleeding on microphones were all covered.
My personal concert highlights:
"Title and Registration" - This got quite the "woo" from the crowd on the first few notes. I continue to think this song is pretty much perfect. Also, being live, they got to stretch out the instrumental portion just a little bit. It gave it a little more air time and made for a really nice build to the last verse. I think it gave it a stronger finish and there's a bit at the end where he stretches out the word "collide" and it made for a perfect punch at the finish.
"We Looked Like Giants" - See. The thing that they do that gets me-- kinda similar to Belle and Sebastian here-- is that they have these lines which, when you read them, just seem like they can't possibly be lyrics. Only they are and when they're sung they kick ass. Also, the instrumental portion of this song was incredibly solid live. I think they sang more at the end of this live than they did on the album, but I can't remember now. "We looked like giants in the back of my grey subcompact..."
"I Was A Kaleidoscope" - This song was performed pretty much exactly the way it's done on the album. Still lasted no more than 2 minutes and 50 seconds. Still ended where it normally ended and started where it normally starts. Only, it also still continues to be one of my favorite fucking songs on the planet.
"Lovesong" - They covered The Cure. Can I repeat that? They Covered The Fucking Cure! If they'd done "Lullaby" I may have died completely from glee, but this was more than enough. It was the second song in the three song encore and I still haven't got a clue what the third song was because of it.
Mmm. I got out in time to have maybe caught the last bus back, but it left from Harvard and by the time I walked over I said screw it and took a cab home. Got a very pleasant cabbie who asked if I had a good evening and all I could think of to say was "It was quite fabulous, thank you." And it was.
