Death Cab for Cutie played Plans at Brooklyn Paramount (Night 3)

Death Cab for Cutie continued the celebration of the 20th anniversary for their album Plans at Brooklyn Paramount.

It's a critical moment in a band's career when and if they get the chance to jump from an indie label to the majors. Getting signed to any label is surely a big deal for any band, but there's a big shift that comes when making moves to a larger scale. Money, exposure, pressure, and demands all play a part and there can suddenly be a lot of expectations to be something great. For Death Cab for Cutie, that came after the band's breakthrough album Transatlanticism helped put them on the map, largely thanks to being featured on the hit Fox show The O.C. If you're a millennial of a certain age, there's no doubt that this was a pivotal moment in your teenage years. As they were gaining popularity, the band also managed to find themselves in the conversation of being labeled as emo despite lacking much sonic similarity with other bands of the time who were also donned that label. In truth, neither them or their pop-punk counterparts for that matter really channeled the traditional sound of emo, but given their lyrics, they were pulled into the mix. If anything, however, Death Cab rose as one of the definitive indie bands of their era even after they signed with a major and left their independent days behind. Plans, the album the band is celebrating on tour and which turns twenty at the end of the month would go on to become the band's best selling record, even if it remained divisive amongst fans. While some relished in new music, others looked at this as the band's "sell out" moment, a change towards a poppier and more accessible sound, but two decades later, the album doesn't sound all that different than what came before it and it became the album that gave the band their permanent spot towards the top of festival posters and big venue marquees where they still sit today. Just a few years ago, Death Cab toured another album in-full, the previously mentioned and much adored Transatlanticism, the album before Plans, and did so in epic fashion with Ben Gibbard's other project The Postal Service who he brought back to also celebrate twenty years of their lone record Give Up. In retrospect, the intrinsic ties between those two records, both released by Gibbard in 2003 and both which launched his career into new territories, hit with an urgency and sense of distinguished maturity. Plans, by comparison, doesn't quite live up to that same hype but surely comes close. Starting off strong, the record begins with "Marching Bands of Manhattan," which of course felt extra special to hear in New York City, and was naturally followed by "Soul Meets Body," that in turn set the mood for the night. By the time the band got to "I Will Follow You Into the Dark," the venue was primed and ready to go with what seemed like every single person in the room singing along to every word. With just Gibbard alone on stage strumming an acoustic guitar, it was a special moment that was utterly enhanced by the woman behind me absolutely sobbing her eyes out. "Someday You Will Be Loved" is the song Gibbard's mom called the meanest song he'd ever written so bringing it out for these shows after a long time of not playing it was another bittersweet moment, but the final comedown of "Brothers on a Hotel Bed" really solidified the first portion of the night. For the second half, the band dug heavily into Narrow Stairs, the follow-up to Plans and those cuts held up better than I remembered. The long into of "I Will Possess Your Heart" allowed the band to flex their chops and really showcase the Pacific North West influences of Built to Spill and Modest Mouse rage through on "Long Division." Sticking mostly to material from the backhalf of their discography, the group did reach back for "Why You'd Want to Live Here" on The Photo Album, but they kept clear of their biggest album to really let the rest of their catalogue speak for itself. 

Set list:

01 "Marching Bands of Manhattan"
02 "Soul Meets Body"
03 "Summer Skin"
04 "Different Names for the Same Thing"
05 "I Will Follow You Into the Dark"
06 "Your Heart Is an Empty Room"
07 "Someday You Will Be Loved"
08 "Crooked Teeth"
09 "What Sarah Said"
10 "Brothers on a Hotel Bed"
11 "Stable Song"

12 "I Will Possess Your Heart"
13 "Why You'd Want to Live Here"
14 "The Ghosts of Beverly Drive"
15 "Long Division"
16 "Black Sun"
17 "You Are a Tourist"
18 "Cath..."
19 "Here to Forever"
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20 "I Don't Know How I Survive"
21 "Doors Unlocked and Open"
22 "Bixby Canyon Bridge"