Death Cab for CutieDeath Cab for Cutie + Mates of State
8 August 2006: McKay Events Center — Orem, UT
We have the facts, and we're voting yes.
|
by Evan Sawdey
 Email
Print
Comment
The day Death Cab for Cutie played Orem, Utah, teenage America's favorite indie band managed to draw a few thousand emotionally confused MTV viewers out to the Real World -- which in this case was the predominantly Mormon campus of Utah Valley State College. The audience members were, with little shock, primarily young, white, and in their teens (and, for the record, filled at least 80% of the arena). Quite a few parents were in attendance, sitting in seats while observing what would ultimately flare up to become only the safest of mosh pits.
As the flip-flop-wearing O.C. viewers poured in, the front of the stage greeted them with little more than a drum-kit and keyboards. When the lights dimmed at 8 pm, the dashing Jason Hammel ran onto the drum kits followed by the lovely Kori Gardner -- blonde hair and blue, maternity type dress in full effect -- who placed herself behind the keyboards and shouted into the microphone. The duo offered a "We're the Mates of State!" by way of introduction, and with no further delay Hammel hammered the skins, opening the show with an energetic take on "Think Long" -- the excellent opening track from their latest album, Bring It Back. The impact was evident: one song in, and they already won over the crowd.
From there, Mates of State broke out tunes from all across their back catalog. They rarely spoke directly, except to thank Death Cab and announce the occasional song; they were primarily focused on rocking out. Though half the audience was lost when the States launched into the hilariously melodramatic cover of Gnarls Barkley's "Crazy", it still made for a great show moment. With everything to prove, Hammel and Gardner came in, kicked ass, and left after a surprisingly meaty 40 minutes.
Newly converted fans will only have to search across three albums to find every song they heard during the Mates' set. Death Cab, on the other hand, pulled from a more extensive back catalog, a strategy which proved both a gift and a curse. As they took the stage, backed by cut-out trees in the shape of their latest album cover, the band was greeted by wild cheers and a flush of blue light. In a gutsy move, they didn't open with anything from Plans, their latest album, or Transatlanticism -- the two discs that would incite the biggest singalongs. Instead, Gibbard strummed "405" -- a great song, and one of the best from their second album, We Have the Facts and We're Voting Yes (a record that received surprisingly strong emphasis this evening). It was a fantastic rendering, but it quickly became apparent that no one knew it. Most in the audience seemed to be listening to the song for the first time. To stave off confusion, the band quickly lurched into "Your Heart Is an Empty Room", a much more familiar song.
Mates of State
But, the surprises would continue. They later launched into what might be the best song in their entire catalog, "Photobooth" (from their oft-neglected Forbidden Love EP). The "tin beat" that opens the song was played in the background, pre-recorded (which the band made no bones about). Then, rather inexplicably, Gibbard announced they would play some more songs from Voting Yes, a proclamation met by raised arms from a small handful of audience members.
When the band did break back into the familiar with Transatlanticism's "Expo 86" the audience's energy returned. As they reached the song's rocking guitar bridge, the crowd began moshing as the band came crashing together -- Walla, Gibbard, and bassist Nick Harmer jumping towards drummer Jason McGerr at the exact same time, exploding with energy. Soon after, they launched into their final song: "The Sound of Settling" -- and yes, the audience sang along to every word.
The encore featured two of Death Cab's most cathartic songs: "I Will Follow You into the Dark" and the eight-minute epic "Transatlanticism". Both were warmly received, the former triggering cell-phone hold-ups in place of lighters, the latter inducing a mass singalong. At the end of "Transatlanticism", when the rest of the band joined in singing the choral word "C'mon" in unison, the stage lights turned to white, and Mates of State came back out -- Hammel on tambourine and mic, Gardner taking over Ben's spot on the keyboard while he grabbed his guitar. And that was it. The climax had passed, the show was over, the band left, the house lights came up, and an Elton John song began to play lightly overhead as the audience filed out.
When you have as extensive a back catalog as Death Cab, it's an easy choice to play older, forgotten classics. Not only does it fend off the boredom of playing the same 12 tunes over and over, but it also exposes your new fans (and Death Cab has those in spades) to numbers they may not know. Though the crowd went into a quixotical viewing state when the band played anything before from a record released before Transatlanticism, at least a few would be prompted to go back and discover some Gibbard-Walla classics. At the end of the day, maybe that's all that matters. After all, digging through old Death Cab is a helluva lot more interesting than listening to the latest soundtrack for the O.C..
— 28 August 2006
|
