So once again my brother overbought tickets thinking his friends would be interested, but none of them have heard of Death Cab For Cutie, so I got a free ride again. This time we were going to the Warfield, and on the way, had to stop for a drink. A neat goose and a sapphire tonic later, I’m feeling great, and ready to execute my brother’s plan of playing innocent and clueless to see if we can get in to the floor, instead of the balcony which is where our tickets were assigned. So we pick the lady who looks most promising and she lets us pathetic, clueless boys in. By the time we make it in, the opening band is playing and my first impression is good. I see six people playing cool instruments including the violin and horns, and I love hearing the violin in rock songs. After listening to the music for a minute I frown and don’t like what I hear. It is possible that that one song just sucks? So my bro and I head to the bar for two more drinks to improve our hearing and perception. It is a little while later and although we feel better, the band still sucks. It took six people, playing the right instruments to create the most uncomposed and ungathered sound I’ve heard performed live. It sounded like some Scottish death wail. They are called the Stars and I didn’t like them, but on to the main event.

So Death Cab For Cutie comes on and its four guys, Jason McGerr on the drums, Chris on guitar/keyboard/vocals, Nick on guitar, and Ben on bass. There’s not much I can really say about their show, except that it rocked hard. Analyzing the sound instruments individually I can say that the drum beats were original, creative, and complementing the vocals, and always on point. The guitars were great, jamming chords that carried the melody beautifully. The bass was right on, playing licks that emphasized the keyboard and gave the music groove. The cool thing about the keyboard was that it kept getting alternated by the singer, Chris, and the guitarist, Nick.

Overall, I was really impressed with the band as it was really the first time I have heard them. Their style of composure really reminded me of David Bowie’s and the singing reminded me of the Postal Service, which consequently I found out is their other project. I highly recommend this band to anyone who appreciates good quality rock with great lyrics and composure.