Death Cab For Cutie, The Hold Steady – Live (October 21st, 2011)

The last time I saw Death Cab For Cutie, I warned about the dangers of going to the show tired and exhausted. Having just arrived back from a lengthy travel period and recovering from jet lag, their show in May back in Edmonton had me struggling to keep my eyes open nearing the end of their set. Capping off a hectic work week on film sets, Friday’s show of Death Cab For Cutie and The Hold Steady had the potential to have the same problems; but this time, their soulful, indie-rock made for a perfectly peaceful and relaxing evening.

Oddly enough though, for a Friday night show in the heart of downtown Vancouver, the turnout was rather dismal. While they pretty much sold out the 4,500 capacity Shaw Conference Centre back on that Tuesday night in May, a mere 2,500 people walked into the empty and cavernous Rogers Arena this time – making for a somewhat echoey display. However, those who did make it down where treated to a night to remember.

Brooklyn by way of Minnesota’s The Hold Steady opened the evening; and they were a rather odd pick as their Springsteen influenced bar rock plays a nearly polar opposite to the laid back melodies of Death Cab For Cutie. The band didn’t let that stop them as they played through Stuck Between Stations, Chips Ahoy, Constructive Summer, Your Little Hoodrat Friend and a rousing rendition of Stay Positive for their closer among others. With each song, front man Craig Finn delivered his half sung/half spoken lyrics with energy and his oddly staccato movements. Unsurprisingly, their slower tracks (Lord I’m Discouraged and Southtown Girls for example) were the ones that really captured the crowd’s ears.

Like most shows though, the headliner was the main draw and Death Cab From Cutie were no difference. From the extended introduction to I Will Possess Your Heart to the monumental closer Transatlanticism two hours later, Death Cab For Cutie played it like it was a packed house. Hitting essentially the same songs they did five months ago, the Seattle quartet jumped from album to album without missing a beat.

Unsurprisingly, their Plans cuts were the most well received – in particular Ben Gibbard’s powerful acoustic rendition of I Will Follow You Into The Dark (which he dedicated to The Hold Steady and brought out a sea of cell phones both waving and filming).

When Gibbard set down the guitar and ran over to a small makeshift drum kit set up on the side for We Looked Like Giants, the crowed truly opened up – even more so than they did for the piano led What Sarah Said.

Despite a small turnout for such a large venue, Death Cab brought it all for their two hour set and it would’ve been hard to find a single person there who would disagree with that statement.