Death Cab/Kweller

I thought Death Cab was great. After some of the reviews about previous shows, I wasn't really expecting much. I was pleasantly surprised. I thought they had lots of energy and sounded great.

I had never even heard of BK until I heard he was on this bill. He was OK, but the show didn't make me want to run back and buy any of his CDs. I might have enjoyed it more if I was more familiar with his material.

Fun hanging out with Bags for a bit, even if our conversations were limited to 15-second bursts between BK songs. :)

That was the best performance I have seen Death Cab give, but it was short. And something about them is lacking for me, I enjoy the songs but none of them stay with me. I can't remember a single great point, was just an enjoyable show.

I left a couple of songs in to Kweller's set. I have seen him twice before and was not up for another. While his lyrics are stupid he can write a catchy song, but the new songs he played early were awful.

So does that mean everybody here missed the BK acoustic rendition of ice ice baby? Good times. I thought the show was quite good - 9:30 seemes a bit more condusive to Death Cab's sound than the Black Cat was (they just seem to need a slightly larger space for their sound) and I enjoyed Kweller although I hadn't been familiar with him.

And a cheers to the dj between sets - I was enjoying the music.

Originally posted by skonster:
So does that mean everybody here missed the BK acoustic rendition of ice ice baby? Good times.

I saw it, but it took me a minute or so to place the song. It was cute. I left shortly after that though.

Okay, who was there for the opener, Aveo? I'm very curious as to how they came off. I love their songs "Haley" and "Sleep" but have also heard some songs by them that were very dull and rough. Could have been bad demos but not too sure of that. No, in no way did I expect them to compare to the professionalism of either DCFC or BK. Only interested in if they at least lived up to a young opener's level and whether or not to keep my eyes opened for any future bookings of theirs. Thanks in advance.

Originally posted by Skeeter:

Originally posted by skonster:
So does that mean everybody here missed the BK acoustic rendition of ice ice baby? Good times.

I saw it, but it took me a minute or so to place the song. It was cute. I left shortly after that though.

I probably just missed…I left in the middle of his third solo song. I may have been into Kweller more if I knew some of his stuff, but I think it says something that, without knowing his catalogue, I wasn't dazzled enough to hang for the whole set.

In some ways the show kind of reminds me of the Liz Phair/Jason Mraz debacle – each band had its own fans there, and each set of fans seems sure "most people were there to see *my* band." I think it was about even. And I am NOT insinuating Kweller is the shite that Mraz is/was…blech, that'd be way, way mean of me! ;)

This whole shared headliner tour is a bad deal, though. Someone's fans get ripped with the first set limited to an hour….

at some point, co-headline = ripoff.

Definitely.

Death Cab and Grandaddy are not opening acts. They can both pack 'em in for a hefty price as headliners. At some point the stacking of bands on a single bill has diminishing returns, nobody wants to come and see their band perform for five minutes, especially having to sit through something unknown or less good to do so.

if the club is too booked to give each band its due, the solution is simple. don't book the shitty bands, or create an eighth or even ninth day of the week.

Originally posted by J'Mal:
if the club is too booked to give each band its due, the solution is simple. don't book the shitty bands, or create an eighth or even ninth day of the week.

coupla things:

1: the club has nothing to do with bands choosing to do a co-headliner tour. we don't force it on them, they do entire tours that way.

B: who gets to decide what a "shitty band" is? if it's you, you'd probably get rid of something i like. if it's me, i'd do the same to you. to each his own.

III: we did over three hundred events last year, which included days with 2, 3, and 4 events. we've done the eight days a week thing, and i'm sure we'll do it again.

This co-headlining bullshit is completely the will of the artists. It's a whole tour of co-headlining, and they normally swap sets – one opens on Monday in Cleveland, the next opens on Tuesday in Pittsburg. Has NOTHING to do with the club…

Originally posted by thatguy:
B: who gets to decide what a "shitty band" is? if it's you, you'd probably get rid of something i like. if it's me, i'd do the same to you. to each his own.

Oh no, thatguy, I wasn't referring to the stuff you like. Only the stuff that Rhett likes.

</sarcasm>

for those that missed BK Baby.

www.stevensplanet.com/bk.html

I *heart* Death Cab, that's all I can say.

I really appreciated that they gave us a glimpse into the "community" of bands– that the bands I like tend to know eachother… comments like:

Our friend Colin wrote a song about this city's "Oceans garbled vomit on the shore."

or

We're surrounded by D-Plan! (later) Hi, Travis.

(Hey, wait… at their show at Black Cat they threatened to do some collaboration with D-Plan… I'm waiting to hear/see it!)

Originally posted by J'Mal:
at some point, co-headline = ripoff.

I kinda enjoy the chance to see a band I wouldnt normally go and see. I often leave after three songs, but the spectacle of seeing other people completely into music I dont get at all, is beautiful.

Given that the 9:30 has only hosted one of the eight shows that I (will) have been to in the first four months of the year, I think it's safe to say that the 9:30 aint booking the "shitty music" that I listen to.

Ironically, of the eight shows that I've been to, only three of them could be called "alt-country", and that included the one 9:30 show i actually went to.

Originally posted by J'Mal:

Originally posted by thatguy:
B: who gets to decide what a "shitty band" is? if it's you, you'd probably get rid of something i like. if it's me, i'd do the same to you. to each his own.

Oh no, thatguy, I wasn't referring to the stuff you like. Only the stuff that Rhett likes.

&lt;/sarcasm&gt;

Originally posted by Walkie hearts your balls:
Given that the 9:30 has only hosted one of the eight shows that I (will) have been to in the first four months of the year

That is weak. I have been to more shows than that in the last three weeks. Not many have been at the 930 either.

Originally posted by mark e smith:

Originally posted by J'Mal:
at some point, co-headline = ripoff.

I kinda enjoy the chance to see a band I wouldnt normally go and see. I often leave after three songs, but the spectacle of seeing other people completely into music I dont get at all, is beautiful.

The downside is that it usually cuts of the set time for the band you did go to see…Liz Phair played for like 50 minutes, and Death Cab for just an hour. That's the downside. If they each did hour and a half sets, it'd rock. Cuz I agree – I can now say why I hate Jason Mraz, and was blown away at the size and fervor of his audience…

DEATH CAB FOR CUTIE + BEN KWELLER
29 March 2004: Calvin College Fine Arts Center â?? Grand Rapids, Michigan

PopMatters Concert Review
by Andrew Watson

The unnaturally quiet atmosphere inside Calvin College's Fine Arts Center was my first clue, my first hint of disappointment. The Death Cab for Cutie show had apparently been moved from the cozy, intimate room I had eagerly been anticipating to the cavernous hall of echoes that doubles as the school's gymnasium. Rats. This unfortunate occurrence could be seen as an unquestionable by-product of the band's increasing fame but also an indication of what appears to be aesthetic changes within the band themselves. Their latest record Transatlanticism can indeed be looked upon as an attempt to reel in the very kids I found myself amongst this evening–the O.C. watching, dorm room file-sharing co-ed set that traditionally gets behind bands of this ilk and propels them to rock stardom. Or so they would hope.

This particular tour with Ben Kweller is nothing less than a college radio jock's wet dream, with everything that's good and, more importantly, profitable about indie rock. Death Cab's Ben (Gibbard) and the other Ben (Kweller) write songs that speak plainly and honestly about things like love, loss, heartache and other topics that occupy the minds of teens and twenty-somethings. Kweller uses a more accessible approach: picture a young redheaded Tweedy fronting the Attractions – a highly energetic, engaging performer. Judging by the set, his upcoming record On My Way seems promising – much more developed songs, surprisingly rich three-part harmonies and Kweller's typical flair for lyrical whimsy. He looked to be having quite a time, bouncing from guitar to a tiny electric piano and back. The Vanilla Ice acoustic thing may have been a bit over the top, but when he misinterpreted a fan shouting "Rolling Stone!"(the mag) as a request to play some Stones and abruptly lept into a sloppy but affectionately raucous version of "(I Can't Get No)Satisfaction" he proved himself capable of owning a stage. It was a fun set and all, but the kids were obviously here to see the other Ben.

Death Cab led off with "The New Year", Transatlanticism's lead track and single, almost as if to get it out of the way. The pogo-ing and light shoving that has become de rigueur at all rock shows these days was, for some reason, more annoying to me than ever. I mean, this is Death Cab for Cutie. These are sad kid in the bedroom songs, why-won't-she-call-me songs, songs with the kinds of lyrics and subtle musical shifts that can only really be appreciated if they are listened to closely and carefully. Sure, some of the new songs turn it up a bit. Sure, bassist Nicholas Harmer flails around and contorts himself in odd ways. Sure, the guys are sweaty and move around a bit onstage-it's not like the music is devoid of energy or fervor or whatever. But the fact is, there is no place for slam dancing or crowd surfing or whatever they call it now at gigs like this. Thankfully, some of the old (read:unfamiliar) songs settled the kids down a little. Guitarist Chris Walla is an underrated piece of the charming DCFC puzzle. His playing on "Photo Booth" and keyboard work during "Sound of Settling" all but carried the performances. Gibbard is certainly and deservedly the band's center, but Walla and drummer Jason McGerr have really announced themselves on this latest record. "We Looked Like Giants" rode out its central, layered-fuzz groove for an additional five or six delicious minutes, bass and electric piano looking horns with Gibbard's guitar drone as he Thurston Moore-d his fretboard with a drumstick. "Lightness" featured a chest rattling bass synth rumbling underneath Gibbard's manually operated drum machine. That head spinner led directly into everyone's new favorite couples skate, "Tiny Vessels", which features what I've determined to be everyone's new fave catch phrase: "You are beautiful/But you don't mean a thing to me." It was bizarre. All these young kids, hand in hand, shouting this cold, defensive lyric, somehow indicative of all those bullshit pseudo-relationships we manage to wiggle in and out of, and doing so in a gleeful manner, as if it was the most natural thing in the world to say. There is the possibility, however, that I overthink stuff like this. I mean, the song does rock. Tough call.

They closed the set with Transatlanticism's title track, a gorgeous ode to the use of great sonic upsurges that take so-o-o long to gather up to their full strength that by the time they do – McGerr pounding hard in a steady repetition, Gibbard off the piano, working his Strat, Harmer doing God-knows-what with his upper torso, Walla in still repose – you feel at once fulfilled and exhausted. They had, with this final track, finally managed to fill this darkened barn. There's no telling how religious of an experience this would have been in a more appropriate setting, but by the time Death Cab left the stage, all the kids had their skinny little arms in the air, begging for more. My lasting image, however, will be that of the other Ben (Kweller) outside his tour bus after the show, proudly entertaining a small group of fans with a knockout lip synch-ed dance routine to Beck's disco call classic "Brenda". Performers, it seems, just like to perform. It's what they do, whether it be in a nice little room, a cold, massive arena, or a half-empty parking lot in the middle of the night.

â?? 6 April 2004