If you read the last blog, you'll probably know that I went to Death Cab for Cutie recently. I went expecting a mellow escape from the mundanities of everyday life and to break from routine for a bit. What I got was practically the opposite.

For those of you who don't know, Death Cab is the indie-rock outfit from somewhere in Washington State (possibly Seattle), USA. They generally favour a lower-toned, frequently piano-based flavour of music.

As previously stated, I went to Death Cab a part time fan not expecting too much. What I got in return was a band who knew their stuff and who are actually able to rock out. The majority of the show saw Ben Gibbard, the lead singer, on electric while he intermingled in between piano and acoustic. The rest of the band was pretty fantastic too. The band had a nice mix of a significant portion of Plans, their latest album, and a number of their older tracks, including stuff off their original demos. Standout tracks were everything off of Transatlanticism.

The opening band was Ted Leo & the Pharmacists. They're a pretty cool indie band from somewhere I don't remember. They're nothing fantastic, but were entertaining none the less.

Then Death Cab took the stage. I don't remember what song it was (probably something off Plans), but it started great. The concert was going pretty well, Ben had the crowd going but not really, really into it. Then he went off, walked out on stage with his acoustic and made emo kids all over the city sing with delight (pretty much everybody else got up and sung too) with a fine rendition of I Will Follow You Into The Dark. Afterward, to the same effect, the band played Soul Meets Body.

A few songs later, the band approached the end of their set with my favourite Death Cab song, We Looked Like Giants. It was a fast paced musical extravaganza, much like the song is on the disc. Also, on the same song, there's a 2 minute repetition of the same melody. That two minutes was extended to around 10 when a small drum kit was placed on stage and Ben ripped some crazy solos. I'd never seen Ben Gibbard as a musician in a light that I'd seen him on that song. I tip my hat to him.

The band closed their set with another Transatlanticism fav, The Sound of Settling. After a minute or so of pause, the band took to the stage for a 3 song encore which started with Your Heart is an Empty Room and ended with a stunning performance of Transatlanticism that had the whole crowd on its feet.

Overall, this was well worth the free ticket I was given and I'd definately do it again.

Rating: 4.5/5