Death Cab at the Hollywood Bowl

Large concerts can be a really bad scene, but for some reason going to the Hollywood Bowl is cool. It's an L.A. tradition where you bring a picnic to enjoy a summer evening outdoors and the music almost provides more of a soundtrack than a diversion or entertainment. (You have to treat it that way since there are inevitably people around you eating, talking, and singing along throughout.) But last night was exceptional because my friend Nick's band was playing.


After the New Pornographers set and while Tegan and Sara were beginning, I ran into Nick, who just parked his truck, and gave him the last three issues of GR as well as some sea-salt-and-chocolate-chip cookies. I figured he could use some reading material for the short three-week tour, but who knew that there were no snacks backstage at the bowl? Maybe they don't want crumbs getting on the L.A. Phil's clean white outfits. (More on that later.)


Since the show fell on a long holiday weekend, the band was able to invite their families down to L.A. to see them play the legendary stage where The Beatles and Morrisey have played. Nick's mom confirmed that she cried during the set, and I'm guessing it was during his lengthy intro to "I Will Possess Your Heart." To me, it's like Sly & Robbie meet "V2 Schneider" meets "Nowhere Girl." The new songs sounded great, too.


Seeing the band with the L.A. Phil was something I wanted to see, too. I was hoping for Beck's dad to utilize the sections to fill gaps during lulls or provide some counterpoints to the melodies, but it was more like they provided swells and energy. The set the tone after a short break and Ben came out to sing "I Will Follow You Into The Dark." The orchestration had a very lush and warm effect, and I sincerely thank my fellow concertgoers for not singing along at the tops of their lungs.


The 19 songs went by really, really quickly. (I think this is the first time I've seen them that they didn't play "405.") During the finale, "Transatlanticism," there were fireworks! Nick told me that some ushers were spoiling the surprise by telling people to beware of them. Oh well, excellent show nonetheless. If you couldn't be there, look for Death Cab on Conan tonight (July 6) or on Soundstage on PBS on Thursday (July 9).