Death Cab for Cutie at the Basilica Block Party, Minneapolis, 7/8/16

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DCFC, with Minneapolis skyline
At the beginning of July, the dust was still settling from my treefrog field season, and I didn't feel up to much of anything besides reading novels on my back porch and playing a little guitar. One of my high school friends, Cierra, told me she'd be in Saint Paul and was going to this music festival. I hadn't even heard it was happening -- that was the size of the rock I was living under. I bought a ticket, naturally.

The Basilica Block Party takes place at the Basilica of Saint Mary, which is this beautiful old church a stone's throw from I-94. I'd never had reason to go. They close a several block radius around the church and set up four stages for concurrent shows. It was crowded. Closer quarters than any festival I'd been to before.

We milled around for awhile, between shows, until the Cold War Kids set in the early evening on Friday. I've never heard a recording by this band, but somehow have seen them in concert three times, twice opening for other bands and once at a festival. One of the bands I'd see Cold War Kids open for was Death Cab for Cutie, so I was happy to see them before Death Cab headlined. It was a nostalgia fest. Unfortunately, we ended up in a depression in the grounds, though, and could barely see anything of the stage.

We migrated to the main stage for Death Cab. I've seen them a few times, and some of those shows have been the most memorable of my life. Last time I saw the full band in concert was Easter Sunday, with Ra Ra Riot, at the Brady in Tulsa. I went to that show with some college friends I haven't seen since graduation. I mention this to illustrate that I think it's not untrue to say that Death Cab has been
Ben Gibbard
a favorite of mine, at various points in my life. But it's equally true to say that my attachment to the band is mostly nostalgia, at this point. In addition, the band underwent a pretty big change in the last two years, as Chris Walla, guitarist and producer, left the band. I wasn't sure what to expect.

I found the show largely unchanged since Walla's departure. The new lineup delivered a really solid set, full of favorites going back all the way to We Have the Facts and We're Voting Yes. Ben Gibbard isn't a huge talker on stage, and there were few frills. I always think Death Cab sounds "bigger" on stage than on recordings, and that was true this time as well. The only jarring thing was the backup vocals -- unfamiliar voices breaking the reverie in familiar songs. Apart from that, everything was nostalgia, down to Ben's hip-rocking dance and their tendency to close with Transatlanticism. I left buoyantly happy, but missing everything. Quintessential Death Cab, Walla or no.

Setlist:
No Room in Frame
Crooked Teeth
Photo Booth
The New Year
The Ghosts of Beverly Drive
Black Sun
Title and Registration
No Sunlight
Company Calls
I Will Possess Your Heart
El Dorado
You Are a Tourist
Cath
Soul Meets Body
Marching Bands of Manhattan
Transatlanticism

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