Death Cab & Postal Service
Bridgestone Arena- April 29th– Nashville
How did I not know that this show was happening? Death Cab For Cutie and The Postal Service co headlining a tour and playing their most prolific albums in their entirety. I guess I’ve been busy with other things, but I should be busy chasing music. Please always be busy chasing the music. Music is what defines us. I didn’t hear about the gig until Friday and the event was on Monday. I figured I missed the good tickets or even the cheaper tickets, but I scored floor seats for $50 each. So here we go.
Ben Gibbard is doing dual roles as the lead to both DCFC and Postal service. It’s been 20 years since Transatlanticism from Death Cab and the album Give Up from Postal Service have released. Tonight, we were treated to both artistic projects at the same time. In anticipation of this incredible show, I was absolutely beside myself.
I saw Death Cab For Cutie in 2020 and 2022 in Seattle, and both shows were mind blowing to say the least. If you’re not familiar with the band, here is a quick rundown of what they are about. Death Cab for Cutie, is an American indie rock group that helped define that emo-ish genre of music in the early 2000s. Original members were lead singer Ben Gibbard, guitarist Chris Walla, bassist Nick Harmer, and drummer Nathan Good. Current members include Jason McGerr, Dave Depper and Zac Rae.
Death Cab for Cutie founders Gibbard and Walla met in the mid-1990s at Western Washington University in Bellingham, Washington, where they began to help each other write and record music in their dormitories. With Walla’s help, Gibbard produced a tape (yes, a cassette tape), You Can Play These Songs with Chords, which earned him a local following. Soon after, additional members were brought in and the band began performing as Death Cab for Cutie, a name taken from a song by the 1960s psychedelic group the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band.
In 1998 the band’s very first album, Something About Airplanes, was released on Seattle’s Barsuk Records, and it created buzz on the indie rock scene. The group followed with We Have the Facts and We’re Voting Yes (2000) and The Photo Album (2001); the latter was highly praised for its exploration of relationships. Between the second and third album, Good left the group and was replaced as drummer by Schorr, who was in turn [2003] succeeded by McGerr. After touring, band members dispersed and devoted time to solo efforts. During this time Gibbard’s New Wave side project, the Postal Service, produced Give Up (2003).
The term “transatlanticism” was a term coined by leader Ben Gibbard to define the “uncomprehensible emotional gap between two lovers separated by comprehensible distances”. In as, the continental United States, an entire ocean, or, most likely, just a couple floors in your freshman dorm. In the 20 years since DCFC released their finest record, the title has taken on an unintended resonance regarding their gorgeous career. On one side of their fourth of seven studio albums, there are three modestly performed and admirably successful LPs released on that aforementioned Seattle indie label. On the other, three exquisite-sounding and wildly successful LPs were released on New York City monster Atlantic Records.
In 2003, Ben Gibbard wrote and recorded some vocals for his buddy Jimmy Tamborello, who crafted cool pop forward electronica music under the name Dntel. Their collaboration became, “(This Is) The Dream of Evan and Chan,” which appeared on Dntel’s 2001 studio-built album, “Life Is Full Of Possibilities.” The song was by far the album’s most well-received track, and the two friends, who lived on opposite ends of the American West Coast (Tamborello in L.A. and Gibbard in Seattle), planned to create an entire album of similar type collaborations.
The duo was called the Postal Service, named after the method through which the two musicians traded their recordings back and forth. Their first full-length album arrived on Feb. 19, 2003, through Sub Pop Records, and soundtracked by Tamborello’s electronic arrangements, “Give Up” became one of the touchstones of a new generation of indie related music — a surprise to everyone, including its creators, who originally treated the undertaking as one-off project.
All that probably seems like a cold and callous undertaking of information, but I feel it’s necessary to lead you into where I stand now at this venue. Now I was here to witness these two creative titans partaking in the unleashing of music pageantry. It felt like a dream that I once had, in a time I cannot recall, in a vision that I had found my place in the world. If I ever felt like I wasn’t “home”, in this reality, that feeling was washed away. My joy was unabashed in this theatre, and I could not wait to participate and gaze into the eyes of the concert that was before us.
Slow Pulp was the inaugural act of this night’s festivities, and they came out swinging. Setting the tone to an event that was anticipated to be outstanding and monumental must be daunting, but this band created an ambience of perfection and dedication that would set the bar for an entire evening of musical bliss. They were beauty personified.
The wonderful aspect about the band is how lead singer Emily Massey’s clean and powerful vocals perfectly compliment the bands’ flawless timing and slick playing. Slow Pulp gives me that 90’s Kim Gordon or Veruca Salt type vibe. They play a variety of indie rock that would fit comfortably alongside other modern-day female-led indie projects too, like Wetleg or Momma. Their strength lies in creating a sound that feels comfortable and assured. It’s a fine, even style of songwriting that I could enjoy for an entire evening. I was certainly glad I got to see it for a moment. They were the exemplary pick to front this night.
Death Cab would pluck the spotlight next, and my heart fluttered for the product that would be thrust upon our eyes. I don’t need to waste any time explaining the songs because, if you are a fan, you’ve heard them so many times. If you have not, please do yourself a favor and Listen to the album Transatlanticism. However, I will certainly be “that guy”. You know the person that tells you how the book was better than the movie. This concert was better than the album, because it was the album, plus the spell bounding showmanship of a polished group of players.
The great thing about a show dedicated to a specific album is that you know exactly what you are going to hear. Some might argue that this is the bad part. That with no surprises the show could be stale or mundane. I would agree in some settings that this could be the case, but when the band is playing such an iconic work from end to end it plays into a very special place. Music makes memories and bookends those special times in our lives. I took a moment, as I tend to do at shows, and looked around at the glowing smiles in a sea of darkness and cell phone flashlights. This melodic resonance danced around the arena but lives in our hearts.
Death Cab ended their set and took about a 15-minute break before Ben Gibbard reemerged with Jenny Lewis and Dnte. This amalgamation was now The Postal Service.
Jenny Lewis is one of “Nashville’s Own” as it were and as she graced the stage the crowd went absolutely berserk. Lewis supported Gibbard on numerous amount of instruments. She bounced from guitar to bass, to percussion and she also played the keys. Jenny brings some ethereal backup vocals and harmonies that make The Postal Service so charming and engaging. Her and Ben together on the stage are perfection. They move and play off each other like two morphing clouds in the sky. They split, then come together and reshape again and again.
The electronic elements are provided by Dnte. He slays us with an arsenal of synths and drum machines. The beats make the audience bop their heads in unison and makes us feel like we are all one in the moment. We are all at the dance club of life and we are together.
Towards the end of the set, Gibbard said, “When we put these records out 20 years ago, and we came for your town, we played little tiny places.”
