★★★★☆
Ben Gibbard seemed to be in a reflective mood at the Royal Albert Hall. The Death Cab for Cutie frontman peered out at the hallowed surroundings in awe and with gratitude flashing across his face. “This isn’t just a band highlight; this is a life highlight,” he said as the band drew the curtain on a two-hour set that charted sweeping grandeur, potent indie-pop and much in-between.
Ten albums and 26 years into their career, Death Cab for Cutie certainly seem to be showing little sign of wear and tear. Last year’s Asphalt Meadows was a varied and light-footed beast, housing high-tempo New Wave, spectral ballads, and supple Americana. Well-received by critics and fans alike, the band were understandably keen to hit the road and bring it to life.
It’s a shame therefore that their UK tour had been truncated due to ill health. Shows in Edinburgh, Glasgow, and Manchester each had to be cancelled because a cold had left Gibbard voiceless. On this then, the final night of their UK jaunt, the band were visibly fired up – eager to go out with a bang.
Photo: Emma McIntyre
But it wasn’t plain sailing. At least, not at first. Maybe it was down to excitement, or nerves at the prestige of the storied venue, but their opening one-two punch ‘I Don’t Know How I Survive’ and ‘Roman Candles’ from their latest album seemed to find a band bound up in trepidation, playing within themselves despite their defiant, textbook rock n’ roll posturing.
It was only once they unfurled the atmospheric and dynamic rush of ‘The New Year’ from 2003’s much-loved Transatlanticism that you could sense they were finding their footing. And they didn’t look back. Gibbard’s head moved side-to-side like a spectator perched courtside at Wimbledon, lost in the music, furrowed into 12-note possibilities and a psychedelic explosion of sound.
The rest of the band took his lead. The likes of ‘Black Sun’ – replete with the sort of electric piano you’d associate with French masters of chill, Air – and a stunning ‘I Will Possess Your Heart’ provided ample evidence of the serious, and seriously dextrous, musical engine at the band’s heart. It was transfixing.
Elsewhere, the flighty arpeggios decorating the likes of ‘I Miss Strangers’ and ‘Northern Lights’ provided glimpses of the sophisticated indie-pop which they’ve always had a knack. It wasn’t all po-faced seriousness either. Gibbard gave a shout-out to British high-street chain Boots.
Photo: Phillip Faraone
He also fondly recalled their first visit to London in 2001, where they played grassroots mainstays Water Rats and Dublin Castle. Of the latter, he’d opined to the sound guy that the microphone smelled “like it had been stuck up someone’s ass”. “That mic is the best-sounding mic in the club”, came the defiant reply. “And he was right,” concluded Gibbard with a chuckle.
Taking to the stage alone with an acoustic guitar for folksy fave ‘I Will Follow You Into the Dark’, the crowd became a church choir in sonorous accompaniment to the protagonist’s pledge to follow their beloved into the abyss. It was a “phone torch” moment. And although it’s easy to sneer our modern day ‘lighters aloft’ cliché, there’s no denying it adds a frisson of spectacle to delicate moments. It did so here.
Meanwhile, the insistent ‘bop-ba’ hook of ‘The Sound of Settling’ was predictably satisfying; so too the gentle chug and skip of Plans’ ‘Crooked Teeth’, which continues to sound like one of the best songs Teenage Fanclub never wrote.
By the time they wrapped up with ‘Soul Meets Body’ and a closing ‘Transatlanticism’ it was safe to say this had been quite some journey: one of soaring crescendos, deep in-the-pocket grooves, and soul-stirring tunes. This show might have been a career highlight for the group, but it’s clear that the Death Cab for Cutie story is far from over. We can all be grateful for that.
