“I’m not into the whole crowded thing,” chided a 40-something-year- old woman when asked to spare a little room for my friend and the hundreds of other anticipatory Death Cab for Cutie fans, as we basked in the packed Pageant Theater on Tuesday night in the Loop.
I was going to ask her what she was doing at a concert that sold out in a few days if she didn’t like crowds of wall-to-wall humanity, but I soon forgot all about it as the lights dimmed and Death Cab’s opening act, The Cribs, took the stage, to zealous applause.
The Cribs, a trio hailing from across the pond in Wakefield, England, strutted onto the stage, sporting nipple-tight shirts, greasy side-parts and jeans tight enough to cut off circulation.
Despite the apparently new industry standard musical attire, the Cribs blasted right into their set with some roaring bass and electric guitar, not to mention the drummer straddling and pounding away on his drum set, to the delight of the crowd.
After a few songs, I thought The Cribs seemed to hit their Bravery/Nada Surf/Strokes-esque stride, due to some intense and vibrantly melodic guitar riffs.
The vocal and lyrical end of the seven-song set was rather ambiguous, though, as the lead singer sounded a bit like mumbly Brit Keith Richards after some heavy pre-concert gaming.
My friends were divided over The Cribs’ approach; one thought their songs all sounded the same, while another was pleasantly surprised and impressed by their energetic performance.
Death Cab member Ben Gibbard summed up The Cribs’ shtick best later in the concert when he quipped, “You’re not always sure what they’re saying, but you always know what they mean.”
Speaking of Ben Gibbard and Death Cab For Cutie, they left the crowd, ranging from bohemian Washington University students to middle-aged couples, to a few Emo teens and everyone in between, waiting in a fevered pitch for another 20 minutes before finally taking the stage.
After the wait, the crowd suddenly burst out cheering as the lights dimmed and a few single strobes illuminated the band’s banner, slowly rising behind their guitars, drums and keyboard.
By the time the banner had stopped ascending, the Seattle-based quartet consisting of front man Gibbard, bassist Nick Harmer, drummer Nathan Good and instrumental utility man Christopher Walla, had taken their places and begun strumming the chords to “Marching Bands of Manhattan” off their latest album, Plans. As “Marching Bands” hit its lyrical crescendo, the thundering bass and deafening amps told my ears that the stage was set for an amazing show.
Wasting no time, Death Cab quickly continued their set with “The New Year,” a fan favorite ripe with Gibbard’s unadulterated vocals, Harmer’s energetic bass tones and Walla’s keyboard offerings, from their fourth album, Transatlanticism. After a few low-key songs, the quartet reinvigorated the crowd with its latest hit, currently saturating MTVU, “Crooked Teeth.” Walla took a break from the keyboard to join Gibbard and Harmer on guitar, giving the song a heavier, more rock, less pop feel than its Plans album version which I thought was a nice change.
Even after six songs, Death Cab for Cutie was just getting started. The band continued with several slower tracks, allowing Gibbard to take a turn on the keyboard before hitting fans with the old single “Company Calls” and the 2000 EP “Photobooth.” “Company Calls” put the band’s energetic, albeit eclectic, stage presence on display, with bassist Harmer strutting like a video extra from Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” and guitarist Walla toe-tapping and two-stepping to the song’s catchy beat.
“Photobooth” illuminated the Pageant’s basic yet satisfactory lighting system; vibrant glows radiated through the smoke above the crowd “as the flashes blinded us in the photobooth,” but ended abruptly with the song, revealing only the band in black and white on stage, like an antique photo.
Death Cab finally showed signs of slowing down after nearly 15 songs, but not before they pulled out all the stops with “We Looked Like Giants” from Transatlanticism. About halfway through, as Gibbard and company were rocking out, someone began setting up a mini drum set in the middle of the stage. Gibbard quickly tossed his guitar to a nearby stage hand and started banging on the second drum set, to the roar of the crowd.
Over the next few percussionistic minutes, Gibbard and Good traded some amazing solos and harmonies.
After that inventive dueling drum ensemble, the Seattle quartet could inevitably only continue with the poptastic “Sound of Settling.” Following a combo of great songs and an already lengthy set, I thought
Death Cab was calling it quits, but after a minute or two Gibbard reemerged to perform an encore acoustic solo of “I Will Follow You Into the Dark,” before being joined on stage by the rest of the band to fittingly round out the concert with the sprawling “Transatlanticism.”
Despite some fleetingly uneven sound problems, Death Cab For Cutie amplified their witty lyrics, independent rock energy and unique alternative sound with a massive 20- song set, to the delight of myself and countless other fans at the sold-out Pageant on Tuesday night.
