Death Cab For Cutie (Shepherds Bush Empire, 8/6/15)
The excellently named We Were Promised Jetpacks opened the show. The Edinburgh indie rockers seemed a decent fit to support, with their pleasant tunes made more distinctive with Adam Thompson's thick Scottish vocals. 8 minute long songs and extended outros are perhaps somewhat ambitious to perform in front of a crowd who haven't come to see you though.
It was a low key start to proceedings from Death Cab For Cutie, with a muted rendition of the very good opening track from their new record ("No Room In Frame"). I wondered how effectively these songs would translate to a live setting. I need not have worried, with the room kicking into life with the energy of "Doors Unlocked And Open" and "The Ghosts of Beverley Drive". What followed was a perfectly judged set, comprising old and new material. The highlights for me were the salvo of the hauntingly beautiful "What Sarah Said", followed by Ben Gibbard's solo rendition of "I Will Follow You Into The Dark", the crowd joining him in unison.
By the end of the main set, they had earned the right to close with the 9 minute long "I Will Possess Your Heart" (a song with a needlessly long intro). More delights were to come in the encore, with the piano driven, atmospheric "Passenger Seat" and "Transatlanticism", a compelling epic of a track that brought the night to a rousing conclusion. In short, Death Cab For Cutie provided 2 hours of indie rock that was exceedingly difficult to fault.
It was a low key start to proceedings from Death Cab For Cutie, with a muted rendition of the very good opening track from their new record ("No Room In Frame"). I wondered how effectively these songs would translate to a live setting. I need not have worried, with the room kicking into life with the energy of "Doors Unlocked And Open" and "The Ghosts of Beverley Drive". What followed was a perfectly judged set, comprising old and new material. The highlights for me were the salvo of the hauntingly beautiful "What Sarah Said", followed by Ben Gibbard's solo rendition of "I Will Follow You Into The Dark", the crowd joining him in unison.
By the end of the main set, they had earned the right to close with the 9 minute long "I Will Possess Your Heart" (a song with a needlessly long intro). More delights were to come in the encore, with the piano driven, atmospheric "Passenger Seat" and "Transatlanticism", a compelling epic of a track that brought the night to a rousing conclusion. In short, Death Cab For Cutie provided 2 hours of indie rock that was exceedingly difficult to fault.
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