LOS ANGELES, Calif. -- I love taking in a summer concert at
the Hollywood Bowl and I was lucky enough to procure tickets to
Death Cab For Cutie’s headlining performance at the venue
earlier this month — but it was opening act Tegan and Sara
who I was really there to see.
The concert started around 7:00pm and after the New Pornographers
opened the show, Tegan and Sara took the stage. Hailing from
Canada, twin sisters Tegan and Sara Quin are quickly becoming a
prevalent force among the indie music crowd. They are one of my
favorite musical acts. I’ve only seen them perform in
smaller, intimate venues, so I was curious to see how they would
sound in a bigger venue. After their opening number, they even
joked about how nervous they were performing in such a big
place.
The twins have a great dynamic with each other. Their dichotomy
is what makes their bantering between songs so entertaining. One
of the things Tegan and Sara fans look forward to most during
their concerts is their famous repartee with each other.
They sounded excellent during the show, considering a lot of
their songs aren’t meant to be played in large
amphitheaters. If they were nervous about the size of the
audience, they definitely didn’t show it. I love watching
them perform because they’re the kind of band that plays
every song the fans want to hear. From “Where Does the Good
Go” to “The Con,” their songs always sound
different every time they perform, which is yet another thing I
love about watching them play. In fact, the only problem I had
with their set was the fact that is was only about a half-hour
long. It was way too short, coming from a band that I could
listen to for days.
After Tegan and Sara closed with the uptempo “Back In Your
Head,” Death Cab for Cutie came out for their headlining
set. This was my second time seeing Death Cab for Cutie in
concert. In all honesty, the first time I saw them, I was pretty
bored by the end of the show. Maybe it’s because, like this
time, I was there to see the opening act. But this time was very
different. Opening with one of my favorite Death Cab songs,
frontman Ben Gibbard belted out “Marching Bands of
Manhattan.”. The energy of their set was much higher than
the last time I saw them and they kept me captivated the entire
time.
After highlights such as “Crooked Teeth” and
“Summer Skin,” they began to play one of their more
recent singles, “I Will Possess Your Heart.”
There’s something different about hearing this song live.
On the radio, I wasn’t that impressed with the track. The
lyrics are simple and repetitive. It took me hearing it live to
appreciate the musicality of the song. So many instruments are
involved and the three-minute intro kept me enthralled. By the
time Gibbard’s vocals came in, I was hooked.
After their song “The Sound of Settling,” the band
excused themselves only to shortly return with the Los Angeles
Philharmonic. The rest of the songs of the night were performed
with the Philharmonic. They opened with the love song (and fan
favorite) “I Will Follow You Into the Dark.” The
highlight of the show, however, was “Soul Meets
Body.” The orchestra blended extremely well with the band
and it was quite fascinating to hear my favorite Death Cab for
Cutie song infused with an orchestra.
For the show’s denouement, they closed with the title track
of their fourth album, “Transatlanticism.” I was a
little surprised that they chose to close with such a somber
ballad, but then my worries subsided when fireworks starting
shooting off above the stage. The fireworks matched the beat of
the song and each time Ben Gibbard sang the line “I need
you so much closer,” the fireworks got bigger and more
spectacular. It was an exceptional ending to a show that kept
surprising me.