Death Cab for Cutie & Ted Leo/Rx @ DAR Constitution Hall

Source: morecowbell.net

This past Monday I had the pleasure of attending the first of two nights of Death Cab for Cutie with Ted Leo at DAR Constitution Hall here in DC. DAR is somewhat of a controversial venue; more of an auditorium than a good concert hall, there is a strong love/hate dichotomy between attendees of concerts. This was my second concert there, the first being Bright Eyes 11/18/05 with Travis. While the acoustics are not stellar, I think that it’s a pretty decent place to see a show, as the first half of the venue gives pretty decent sight lines.

When I saw Ted walk on stage, I knew this was going to be a great Ted set. He walked out in a military pilot jumpsuit with combat boots. Given that it was November 6, with some pivotal midterm elections looming, I was hoping for a political set from Ted. I’ll take this moment to say, “Thank you,” to Ted, Chris, and Dave for not disappointing.

As the first chords of “My Vien Ilin” hit our ears, I knew we were in for a great night, the Pharmacists were ready to let us know what they thought of the folks living only a few blocks away. Next Ted decided to bring us some encouragement & comfort in the form of “It’s all right, it’s all right, it’s all right, etc…” during “Little Dawn.”

After a new track and some hits off Shake the Sheets (”Me and Mia”) & Hearts of Oak (”Rude Boys”), Ted thought it was due time to remind us of the elections on Tuesday. His directive was to vote, “but only for the candidates we endorse. This next song is a new song, and a little hint at the candidates we endorse.” Next came, as you could probably guess, “Army Bound.” This track has been floating around for awhile but is sounding tighter and tighter, I look forward to hearing it on the new record (that coincidentally Ted is mixing in Takoma Park, just outside DC in Brendan Canty’s studio). After “Army Bound,” Ted made sure to clarify that he really didn’t mean to tell us to vote for only the candidates they endorsed, but that “comedy was the new rock ‘n’ roll” and wanted to make sure that we “got the memo.”

I love Ted’s nerdy sense of humor, because I think it brings the crowd onto the stage with the band. In a venue like DAR where connecting to the band is difficult, Ted’s humor was a much-welcomed assistant. I had the chance to catch up with after Wilco, as Travis and I previously mentioned. Ted expressed concern there about playing such a large venue, because he felt it might be difficult to make the connection with the audience that they do so well in smaller venues. Well, Ted, if you should ever stumble across this, I tell you now that you all did just fine, in fact you connected very well considering DAR’s size.

The show rounded out with a crew thank you ala “Timorous Me” melting into “Walking to Do,” one of my personal favorites. The Pharmacists ended the show with a calm “Biomusicology,” clocking the opening set right around 45 minutes. Being as this was my 8th time seeing Ted, I feel that it should have been longer, but I respect that sometimes, it’s nice to open and play short sets. The full setlist below.

Unfortunately, I had to miss the first few songs in Death Cab’s set. But I managed to get in during, “Empty Room.” I’ve always felt Death Cab was a fun band to see live. Monday was the 3rd chance I’ve had, and I’ve enjoyed every show. Sure, their fans have gotten younger and younger, but I really don’t mind rawking out next to 14 year olds…it’s weird, but I can get over it. Death Cab has always made their live sets more engaging than their records, and I appreciate that. While I enjoy their records, the energy needs to be cranked up a bit and DCFC does that well on stage.

Fortunately, the guys broke out some of the great older tracks like, “Company Calls,” “President of What?” “Pictures In An Exhibition,” “Photobooth” and others. The old stuff sounded awesome, especially the noise-jam during “President of What” (keeping in my mind, “noise-jam” for Death Cab is not the same noise-jam I would imply as for a band such as Sonic Youth). One of the other highlights was a heavier influence on Ben’s acoustic guitar during “Brothers On a Hotel Bed.” While apparent on the album mix, they really brought out the sound during the live rendition, and it gave the song a different feel.

DCFC ended their set with the crowd-pleasers “Soul Meets Body,” and “Sound of Settling.” I recognize that people love “Soul Meets Body,” but it’s probably one of my least favorite Death Cab tracks, so I could have done without it. The new songs as a whole just don’t grab my attention as much as the older tracks either, but it was fun to see the crowd dig the new tracks.

Ben started the encore with “I Will Follow You Into the Dark,” followed by “Marching Bands.” The set ended as many others have with “Transatlanticism,” which I’ve always felt brings closure to their performances.

Unforunately, the entire Death Cab set lasted only about 1 hour 20 minutes, far too short for a band with five records of material and a plethora of B-sides and rarities. However, Death Cab did a great job, and I’m glad I was able to make it to this show. I appreciate the energy they put into their live shows, and while I find Ben’s voice occassionaly difficult to bear live, I am always able to see past it and enjoy their sets.

I was not able to make it to the second night, because I was at Broken Social Scene, but the DCist has a review for those whom are interested.

Ted setlist

- My Vien Ilin
- Little Dawn
- new track (not sure of the name)
- Rude Boys
- Me and Mia
- Army Bound
- Counting Down the Hours
- Dial Up
- Timorous Me –> Walking to Do
- Biomusicology

DCFC setlist

(the few songs I missed)

- Empty Room
- The New Year
- Why You’d Want to Live Here
- Crooked Teeth
- Title and Registration
- Summer Skin
- President of What?
- Photobooth
- Moving Script Ending (dedicated to Ted)
- Company Calls
- What Sarah Said
- Brothers on a Hotel Bed
- Expo ‘86
- Pictures In An Exhibition
- Soul Meets Body
- Sound of Settling

Encore

- I Will Follow You Into the Dark
- Marching Bands
- Tiny Vessels
- Tranatlanticism