Corn Exchange, Edinburgh
14/11/2008
Words: Chris Hynd
You know, what with people being people (and me being me I guess), there's certain bands that you just begrudge having any kind of success. And me being me, Death Cab just isn't one of those bands - from playing the likes of the (now sadly gone) Venue on the other side of town to selling out the Barrowlands on their last tour and now the Corn Exchange on this one after the release of their latest LP "Narrow Stairs" - this is a group who've worked at it and have earned the right to be where they are. Obviously, I wonder how many of the 400 or so souls from that Venue gig in 2004 (I think. Being an old man now means that the memory isn't as good as it used to be!) are in attendance tonight - I can say 2 for sure (myself and erstwhile colleague JC) but it looks like the somewhat youthful make up of the audience means that the figure probably isn't that great.
And that doesn't matter a great deal when you think about it - Death Cab have continued to be Death Cab, good guys playing the songs they want to play and a band who seem totally comfortable with where they find themselves right now. A roar greets them as they start with "Bixby Canyon Bridge" off "Narrow Stairs", Ben Gibbard, in his customary position stage left , seems to be in thrall of the occasion and adulation and feeds off it, while Chris Walla on the opposite side to Gibbard remains in the shadows and goes about his business with the minimum of fuss. And it works - from the killer segue of "The New Year" and "We Laugh Indoors", the light poppy groove of "No Sunlight" and "Soul Meets Body", Death Cab continue to knock out the great tunes. You can be a band at a certain level, but if you don't have the songs to back it up then it's going to be a struggle to remain there. It's always been about the songs, about the music and that really shows.
That's summed up perfectly by Gibbard playing "I Will Follow You Into The Dark" in the middle of the set, his acoustic paean to love and death has been taken to a new level in the live arena, somewhat like when you see Stipe introduce "Losing My Religion" from some Enormodome stage as "your song... we're only covering it". The obvious thing would be to save it for the encore but it works well half way through the evening. "We Looked Like Giants" is the biggest song of the night, the drums pound and the guitars roar and Gibbard's self-confessed "only dance song" "The Sound Of Settling" rattled along at a fair old lick, those insidious "ba-ba's" getting right into your head and never leaving.
The crowd, loud in their appreciation of the songs but respectful as a whole, seemed to enjoy what they saw and I have to say that I did too. This is a band I've been with a long time, part of me wished they'd just come out and do "The Photo Album" from start to finish but I always knew that wasn't going to happen - new records, new fans, new beginnings but, as I said above, a Death Cab that are totally comfortable with where they find themselves in 2008. A glorious "Tiny Vessels" / "Transatlanticism" mix closes proceedings and as Gibbard and company up the volume for the latter's crescendo-like finish, the noise and light seems to come together as one. It's a great way to finish.
Aye, they ken whit they're dae'in' thae boys...
And that doesn't matter a great deal when you think about it - Death Cab have continued to be Death Cab, good guys playing the songs they want to play and a band who seem totally comfortable with where they find themselves right now. A roar greets them as they start with "Bixby Canyon Bridge" off "Narrow Stairs", Ben Gibbard, in his customary position stage left , seems to be in thrall of the occasion and adulation and feeds off it, while Chris Walla on the opposite side to Gibbard remains in the shadows and goes about his business with the minimum of fuss. And it works - from the killer segue of "The New Year" and "We Laugh Indoors", the light poppy groove of "No Sunlight" and "Soul Meets Body", Death Cab continue to knock out the great tunes. You can be a band at a certain level, but if you don't have the songs to back it up then it's going to be a struggle to remain there. It's always been about the songs, about the music and that really shows.
That's summed up perfectly by Gibbard playing "I Will Follow You Into The Dark" in the middle of the set, his acoustic paean to love and death has been taken to a new level in the live arena, somewhat like when you see Stipe introduce "Losing My Religion" from some Enormodome stage as "your song... we're only covering it". The obvious thing would be to save it for the encore but it works well half way through the evening. "We Looked Like Giants" is the biggest song of the night, the drums pound and the guitars roar and Gibbard's self-confessed "only dance song" "The Sound Of Settling" rattled along at a fair old lick, those insidious "ba-ba's" getting right into your head and never leaving.
The crowd, loud in their appreciation of the songs but respectful as a whole, seemed to enjoy what they saw and I have to say that I did too. This is a band I've been with a long time, part of me wished they'd just come out and do "The Photo Album" from start to finish but I always knew that wasn't going to happen - new records, new fans, new beginnings but, as I said above, a Death Cab that are totally comfortable with where they find themselves in 2008. A glorious "Tiny Vessels" / "Transatlanticism" mix closes proceedings and as Gibbard and company up the volume for the latter's crescendo-like finish, the noise and light seems to come together as one. It's a great way to finish.
Aye, they ken whit they're dae'in' thae boys...
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