SUCH GREAT HEIGHTS
More than 20 years after iconic albums, Death Cab and The Postal Service are still climbing
It was a rather tumultuous year with the invasion of Iraq, the culture war against the Dixie Chicks, the space shuttle explosion and a new wave of gangsta rap via 50 Cent.
But way down there in the underground, indie rockers were getting a warm, fuzzy feeling in 2003 from Ben Gibbard, who released two albums, with two different bands, stocked with poetic, emotional, soulbaring songs about love, loss and loneliness.
Fans got to relive that feeling Thursday night when Gibbard arrived at Petersen Events Center on the albums’ 20th-anniversary tour fronting Death Cab for Cutie and The Postal Service.
Based on the Spotify playlist, the most popular Death Cab songs, by far, are two tracks from “Plans,” “I Will Follow You Into the Dark” and “Soul Meets Body.” They were not part of this limited show, as Gibbard chose to go without bonus tracks.
After an opening set by Slow Pulp, Death Cab was up first with the album that pulled the band out of a funk and broke it to a wider audience. “Transatlanticism” is a beautiful mix of melody, melancholy and occasional moments of exuberance.
The dynamic range is wide, and the band, on a darkly lit bi-level stage, played it faithfully with all the layering intact. They also gave it an extra jolt of urgency, especially on the more dramatic and uptempo songs like the opener “The New Year,” and “The Sound of Settling.”
If you looked at the sweetvoiced Gibbard with no sound, you’d think by the way he moved that he was fronting a punk band.
Speaking of which, he stopped to tell the crowd that the first time they played Pittsburgh was in 2000 at Mr. Roboto Project, which generated a roar from the knowing fans.
As promised by bassist Nick Harmer in a PG interview last week, the album’s title track arrived two-thirds of the way in. It’s an absolute showstopper, and the crowd knew it, cheering at the simple six-note guitar riff that sparks the towering crescendo.
Just as impressive, though, and equally well-received was his near-naked vocal on the next
song, “The Passenger Seat.”
After another sonic peak with “We Looked Like Giants,” their set came to a close with acoustic fingerpicking on the quiet plea of “A Lack of Color.”
The vibe changed radically for Postal Service: the garb going from all black to all white, the lighting going clubby, the drums going electropop and female energy flowing in the angelic harmonies of Jenny Lewis.
While it was considerably more blippy and beat heavy in the hands of producer Dntel, the common thread was Gibbard’s bright vocals, shimmering melodies and the lyrical portraits that he painted.
They brought the band’s lone album, “Give Up,” to life perfectly with moments that really popped: the gorgeous duet on “Nothing Better,” the electrifying drive of “Clark Gable” and the frontman’s stint behind the kit on “We Will Become Silhouettes.”
After bringing the set to a crashing finish with the sound of an alien invasion on “Natural Anthem,” Gibbard and Lewis returned for a cleansing acoustic folk take of “Such Great Heights.” Then, both bands were on stage to slam home Depeche Mode’s “Enjoy the Silence.”
Gibbard told the crowd that when The Postal Service was making “Give Up,” that: “We never thought people would care that much to begin with, let alone that we’d be playing these songs 20 years later.”
They’ve aged so well, it’s safe to say everyone will still be up for it in another 20.