Show Review: Death Cab For Cutie

Death Cab is currently finishing up a tour of the rock clubs they used to play before they blew up, and my sister, my girlfriend, and I were fortunate enough to be able to get tickets to see them at the Troc in Philly, despite Ticketmaster frustrations verging on LCD Soundsystem proportions. Despite it being my birthday and the day of my sister's high school graduation, we arrived just after the doors opened and were soon inside and up front in plenty of time for openers The Lonely Forest to take the stage.
photo by my sister
Frontman John Van Deusen got the crowd's attention immediately with his Philadelphia Flyers jersey and apparently self-tailored Dickies, then locked it in with sharp pop vocals kept front and center in the remarkably good live mix. There were a few definite earworms in the Washington state outfit's repertoire, and myself and many others began picking up on choruses right away. The entire band seemed enthralled just being on stage playing their music, and their cheerful, upbeat demeanor successfully distracted from the sometimes too overt Death Cab influences of an opening act signed to and produced by guitarist Chris Walla's Trans Records. Here's the video for standout track "Turn Off This Song And Go Outside", filmed on the Fourth of July in their hometown:
Say what you like about the resounding successes of Ben Gibbard and company; they are genuine artists with a real love of their music and its fans. Sellouts don't play sets including tracks from cassette tape releases and more songs from before Transatlanticism than from Codes and Keys, which they are ostensibly touring. This was not a show for the uninitiated, with a deep track selection spanning the length and breadth of the Death Cab oeuvre. Their stage presence was compelling, and in general substantially more rock-oriented than I expected-Gibbard's acoustic guitar only took a dominant role for his solo rendition of Plans hit "I Will Follow You Into The Dark". A lengthy first set, brief respite filled with a deafening roar from the crowd, and an encore verging on second set status left a very well satisfied audience. In a trope becoming somewhat familiar given the number of shows I've seen at the Troc, the band apparently loves the venue. I think their music is better suited to more intimate spaces, and the former burlesques is nothing if not intimate. I'm very glad I caught them there, rather than at the Mann for their next Philadelphia show.