I was riding the escalator up the Concert Hall in Esplanade when I overheard an excited 20-something boy telling another excited 20-something girl.
As he held Death Cab’s tickets at the tip of his fingers, he declared “These are my tickets to heaven“
I smiled and I thought to myself, “Heaven Indeed“
2 hours and 15 minutes later, as I stood outside the concert hall sucking a cigarette, I reflected.
It wasn’t heaven. At best, it was purgatory.
I’ve got possibly the best seats in the hall, placed right dead center of Benjamin Gibbard. If i tiptoed just a bit, I could cheekily untie Ben’s shoestrings. That’s how close I was to one of the greatest songwriters of our generation.
I’ll start with the good. Death Cab is amazing live. They sound exactly like how they sound in a studio record. Ben’s pitching was almost perfect. Even with the less than adequate mic, his boyish tenor voice soared through the air. And me being right smack in front of him felt like he was singing directly to me. I’ve never seen Ben before that day, but from the pics of him he seems to have lost a lot of weight. Gone are the dorky glasses and chubby cheeks. Long wavy-rockstar hair now decorates his sweaty face. He must have learnt a few rockstar moves too what with the twirling of mic cords, and rising guitar to heaven move as he sprang the high notes. For a moment there, I was afraid he was gonna start lighting up a smoke and dangle it between his fingers as his stumpy fingers fly around the neck of his guitar. Thank the blinding light that did not happen.
Death Cab started on the dot. Right on time quite unlike the superstar status they’ve grown to achieve. Explosions in the Sky taught me never to be late for a concert again when I missed First Breath After Coma back in Ruums – which i haven’t quite gotten over till today.
“I descended a dusty gravel ridge, beneath the Bixby Canyon Bridge” echoed in the air as they started the set with the opener from Narrow Stairs. From then on, it was an explosive non-stop 2 hours worth of brilliant Death Cab music covering their earlier works to what it is today.
I’m a hard man to please. When I watch a movie, I expect the vision of the director to send me to the black hole with unparalleled story telling. When I listen to a record, I expect the musician to humble me by producing sound that sends me into oblivion. When I attend a concert, I hope the band will make me stand up, close my eyes and put my hands in the air and just feel like nothing else in the world matters.
Unfortunately, it didn’t quite happen for me in Esplanade. Don’t get me wrong. Their performance was rock solid but if I wanted a perfect rendition of their studio songs, I’d put on their CD. The pivotal ingredient to a stunning concert experience is interaction which didn’t really happen that night. Communication between the performer and audience was virtually non existence. No chit-chat. No american jokes. No call-to-response for singalongs and the likes. That’s actually quite alrite because I know plenty of bands who focus more on the music rather than toying with the audience. But when that happens, they make up for it by launching into a major improvisation of their songs by adding medleys, elongated music passages or even a fancy drum solo for that matter. It hardly happened with Death Cab as most of their songs are almost identical to what I’d hear on the CD.
At the end of the day, I’m glad I was there. It might not have been the best concert I’ve been to (I hate to say this but based on performance alone, I enjoyed Air Supply more) but Death Cab is without a doubt, the driving force behind today’s indie/emo movement. Watching the lights dim as Ben strapped on his Gibson acoustic guitar to sing to us one of the greatest love song ever written – I Will Follow You into the Dark itself was worth the trip down south. But the closure – Tiny Vessels followed by the epic Transatlanticism made all adoring fans fell in love all over again.
It might not have been heaven (that’s reserved solely for Damien Rice’s performance in Suntec years back) but it came as close as purgatory. I might have even knocked at the door if only Ben fuckin listened to me and played What Sarah Said.
August 14, 2008 at 12:27 pm |
Hullo!
Bit of a pity. I’ve always valued the interactions that should come during live performances.
Tweaking tracks are good too.
Makes me wonder if there’s some sacred need to leave things unchanged.
I watched a burned copy of Damien Rice’s live performance on BBC Four. That itself blew me away.
August 14, 2008 at 3:50 pm |
Ben did make that “dead air” joke =d But yeah i totally get what you mean. I was waiting for “a lack of colour”, and it would have been perfect if they played “What Sarah Said”… did you manage to score some autographs though?
August 15, 2008 at 12:35 am |
don’t lose ben’s guitar pick. :]
August 16, 2008 at 1:56 am |
I understand what you mean about lack of interaction. Some bands just don’t interact. Bob Dylan never interacts but his gigs r brilliant nonetheless. But Air Supply performance being better???? Surely u jest. Maybe Air Supply just interacted better? I doubt they could perform any better. And I have seen them live in the 80s when at their peak…
August 16, 2008 at 2:05 am |
I was at Damien Rice at Suntec too…I thought he was average at best. I know many disagree but I actually think he seemed overly self indulgent and I am not a fan of artistes who feel this constant need to mouth off expletives without any apparent purpose…not my idea of interaction..would rather just hear the songs…the best gig I have ever seen in terms of interaction was by Janis Ian at the Esplanade Recital studio some years ago…also Suzanne Vega at Esplanade Concert Hall..they were master storytellers who explained the meaning behind their songs eloquently and with class…
August 16, 2008 at 4:03 am |
The word I used “performance” was not meant to be taken literally, And yes surely i do jest.
What i meant was an overall concert experience, i enjoyed myself more in Air Supply. They had a way of making me feel that everyone in the hall was important and even tho their songwriting does not really stack up to alot of bands that i have grown to be obsessed with, they could deliver their songs very well and connect with the audience.
Not technically. But emotionally. I dont know if it makes sense to you.
I watched Muse when they came down too and there was completely no interaction but Matt Bellamy is a frigging whiz on the stage even if he doesnt have to speak. Its hard to explain in words but its really the emotional connection that performer and listener share. Sometimes you have it, sometimes you dont.
As for Damien – im gonna have to disagree with you. I love random thoughts and at the spur of the moment comments. But i get your point.
And to Ning, – no autograph although i do have ben’s plectrum which i will use to compose songs that will never ever stack up to ben.
August 16, 2008 at 9:04 am |
Ah..randam thoughts..now i understand the difference you’re looking for..even Janis and Vega would not have been random..if you go to their gigs twice, you will learn the stories are the same…I sense Ben Gibbard is going through some sort of image direction change..I have seen many youtube postings where he is super chatty with the audience (although those seem to be from his solo tour)..for this tour, DCFC seems consumed with getting it techinically perfect. They were technically perfect at the Esplanade and the showed that what they do on the album is what they can replicate live (unlike some bands who sound crap outside the studio)..perhaps is a few years Ben will chill more and speak a bit more with the audience…I can understand how his fans would expect that considering how emo his songs are…
August 17, 2008 at 8:38 am |
omg…. you got the set list? interested in selling it?
August 19, 2008 at 7:56 am |
sorry babes. i dont have the actual set list, just the picture. some photographer who sat beside me has it.
August 19, 2008 at 7:27 pm |
Ya know, owning Ben’s plectrum raises your sex0r factor heaps =d