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Death Cab for Cutie at Riot Fest 2023 | Nunupics Zomot

WARNING: I’m using footnotes⁰

Death Cab For Cutie’s 4th album Transatlaticism is unquestionably my favorite by them.¹ From “The New Year” to “Lack of Color” I have every word memorized.^2,3 October 7th, 2023 marked the album’s 20th Anniversary which has been a day I’ve agonized over for the past year because I knew I wanted to say something about the album. Like many other artists Death Cab has opted to celebrate their record’s anniversary with a tour where they play the record in full. Death Cab for Cutie have embarked on their anniversary tour with The Postal Service, Ben Gibbard’s other masterpiece-producing project from 2003, so the draw for me was inevitable. I was lucky enough to bear witness to both Transatlanticism and Give Up in Chicago at this year’s Riot Fest surrounded by fellow fans who had their own journey to finding the albums.

I was in third grade when Transatlaticism first came out, so I can’t say I was a day one fan of the record, I was more interested whether or not Power Ranger was a viable career path. Death Cab was introduced to me in 2008, or thereabouts,  that was when I first saw the music video for “Cath…” then fell deeper into their catalog, eventually finding Transatlanticism. Songwriter Ben Gibbard’s signature vocal style and existential lyrics were a welcome gut punch for me, as I was about to enter high school. I was  hooked on Gibbard’s writing style for its brooding qualities but also its earnestness. For me, you come to Death Cab for Ben but you stay for everybody else. The line-up of Death Cab, even though it has changed over the years, has always captivated my excitement with each new release. Chris Walla’s production seemed to be an inextricable part of the band’s foundation, but after his departure following the release of 2011’s Kintsugi the band continued to put out great work including their latest album, 2022’s Asphalt Meadows. It probably goes without saying, but Death Cab is my favorite band. It’s always been a rewarding experience being a fan of Death Cab even after all these years. Walla’s production was key to the sound of Transatlanticism, which Gibbard has expressed in press around the record’s anniversary.⁴ Through repeated listens, Transatlaticism has provided a wealth of comfort and wisdom, not only through the affecting instrumentation and lyricism, but also in its distinguished production. Returning to my favorite Death Cab album has continued to excite me about my favorite aspects of the group, past and present.

Since the release of Transatlanticism, songs like the title track and The New Year have been staples of setlists. Ben Gibbard even ranked Transatlanticism as Death Cab’s best album (Noisey). At the same time Ben was writing songs like “The Sound of Settling” and “Title and Registration” he was working on a side project with Jimmy Tamborello (aka Dntel) on a batch of songs that would become The Postal Service. The combination of synths and drum machines with Ben Gibbard’s signature songwriting style was a chocolate and peanut butter moment which spawned a whole new era in indie music. `

The Postal Service at Riot Fest 2023 | Photo by Jason Pendleton

I was lucky enough to catch Death Cab and The Postal Service at this year’s Riot Fest. It was a cathartic moment in my journey as a fan to experience both albums front to back. I feel like I’ve held the music of both of these bands close to my chest for a while. Entering a crowd of fellow fans felt strange. It almost doesn’t make sense that an ocean of thousands of people could feel the same connection to Ben’s lyrics as me or know the same small idiosyncrasies of the recordings. But as I screamed the bridge of “Expo 86’” in unison with the strangers next to me and tried my best to do the clapping part to The Sound of Settling I felt a unique bond to my fellow fans. The Postal Service was an equally euphoric experience, especially since the stars of Tamborello, Lewis and Gibbard only align every decade at this point. Not only my love for Death Cab but my specific love for Transatlaticism made this show feel like a culminating experience. I don’t know if there will ever be a more perfectly billed show for me unless they perform the album again in another ten years. 

I have so much personal emotion and creative stock in Transatlanticism so having a chance to engage with the record, song to song, felt sanctified. I am sure that many music fans have felt this feeling, not just about Death Cab and The Postal Service, but many other artists this year. There has been a noticeable rising trend of album’s getting road revivals this year. Look at your favorite venue’s concert calendar and I would bet that there are few shows billed as 10/15/20… year album anniversaries. A major example is U2’s debut residency at the newly opened MSG Sphere. While not specifically billed as an anniversary show, Sphere’s inaugural concert series is centered around U2’s 1991 album Achtung Baby.

U2 and Death Cab, to varying degrees, are legacy bands with a body of work that has cultural cachet. The rising trend of album shows are not limited to legacy bands though. Relatively newer acts like Citizen, Deafheaven and Foxing have recently announced, or already embarked, on tours celebrating the 10 year anniversary of their respective albums. The proliferation of younger bands investing time into perfecting a setlist of deep cuts makes me wonder what the upside could be to looking backwards instead of forwards.

An anniversary tour could signal that a band has staying power. While artist’s halt the process of producing newer albums and performing older material they are also able to bask in the glow of survival in a treacherous industry. The older records have grown with fans and a chance to celebrate the journey down a long road might be a welcome shift away from a new album cycle. A band that has reached greater heights than their celebrated works may get a chance to invite fans that have moved on back into the fold. That possibility does leave me curious about those fans that might only attend these shows selectively. Then again, the album show may focus on an era of the band’s popularity that they themselves have evolved away from and revisiting it could attract fans that have already jumped ship, thus re-engaging with past fans in a new way. 

Nostalgia is certainly alive and well in live music. Considering the proliferation of genre-specific mega-fests like When We Were Young, which curate lineups that would have seemed impossible even a decade ago. This level of fan-service in the indie and emo world is unprecedented. Warped Tour had its major acts but many artists that made up the tour’s line-up weren’t already legends in their own right. This year’s WWWY  is overflowing with bands that could each fill large venues in cities across the country. Coupled with the ticketing hellscape set upon us by overlords Ticketmaster and Live Nation, music fans must be more selective with the shows they attend. A potential effect of all this could be strategic decisions on the part of bands to opt for an anniversary tour instead of touring on new music. I’m not saying one is necessarily better than the other, but there is a financial reality to touring and enticing audiences to buy tickets is the goal. Dangling the carrot of  “a once in a decade experience” might be the more enticing option, so new music gets put on the back burner. 

Despite the industry and what may be trendy at the time, bands have their own goals and looking back may not align with their current trajectory. Bands that could certainly take a look back at this point in their career may be trying to grow their audience, which may leave veteran fans having to decide if they are along for the ride. Turnstile for instance isn’t taking time out of their sets to play Step 2 Rhythm⁶, The bands smash record Glow On (2021) has skyrocketed them to height never-before seen in Hardcore punk. Looking back now might hinder forward momentum as they cook up new music. in full because it’s turning 10 this year. Blink-182 also had a 20-year anniversary ripe for celebration with their self-titled album but instead chose to return to touring with a catalog spanning set, with none other than Turnstile providing direct support.

Even though Ben Gibbard is celebrating two 20 year-old albums with an anniversary tour, filling some of the same rooms as Blink and Turnstile, I think he is at peace with his career arc. In the same interview where Gibbard ranked his records he said “I know for a fact I will never have a year again like 2003”. Gibbard’s recognition is void of any ego or arrogance about the position of his other records. The fact that Give Up and Transatlaticism can fill arenas to this day is a testament to the impact of those albums. As a fan I was so pleased to see this tour announced and going to the show was all I hoped it would be. It’s a common trope that the quality of an artists’ output declines over their career, or that their late era albums are not as good as their initial releases.⁷  Full tours celebrating bygone eras of a band could signal that this trope has potential vitality in the current touring landscape, especially if fans of a particular album only come out to see one album performance and skip the next tour of new material.  Seeing younger bands engaging in the same retrospective touring as legacy  bands could signal a bright future or a return to the glory days of the past. Only time will tell if album anniversary tours are a symptom of selective attention on the part of fans or if these celebrations can offer a period of reflection that builds anticipation for a band’s next chapter.

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⁰ Yes, I do own a copy of Infinite Jest and that is all I have to say about that…

¹ My Favorite Death Cab Albums (Current) Ranking:

1. Transatlanticism
2. We Have The Facts…
3. Narrow Stairs
4. Plans
5. The Photo Album
6. Asphalt Meadows
7. Kintsugi
8. Thank You For Today
9. Codes & Keys

² I learned from Chris Walla’s impromptu ama on Twitter that the album’s last and first track are linked by a pad that seamlessly transitions A Lack of Color with The New Year.

³ My friend Hunter and I once sang along  to the record from beginning to end on shuffle during a car ride back to Chicago from Kansas City. That car ride is honestly a core memory for me of this album and Hunter and I’s friendship in general. Its was one of those moments when you realize you share the same connection to art as someone else and it feels like you aren’t as alone as you think you are.

⁴ Vinyl Emergency, Podcast with Ben Gibbard (~37:00 to ~41:20)

⁵ Ben Gibbard Ranks Death Cab for Cutie’s Eight Albums by Dan Ozzi

⁶ I will grant you that this is an EP and we still have yet to see what will happen when the anniversary of Nonstop Feeling in 2026 will bring, but the opportunity to reference inarguably one of the fastest growing bands of the 20s, I feel, is a viable example of this trend. Band’s have performed EPs in full, it’s a thing.^6.1

^6.1 When I saw Touché Amoré on tour with La Dispute in 2019 they performed their respective songs from their split EP during their respective sets, which would have technically been celebrating its 9th Anniversary.⁷ The now-defunct podcast Late Era exemplifies this to great effect, hosted by Pitchfork contributors Andy Cush, Sam Sadomsky and Winston Cook-Wilson. It’s one of my top recommended podcasts to friends, it goes over the some of the best and worst albums that can be categorized as “Late-era”.