Arts & Entertainment

Death Cab For Cutie Loudly Rocks the Amp

Death Cab For Cutie performs at Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre Thursday night.

A Frightened Rabbit made its way to the stage Thursday night, Aug. 11, to open for Death Cab for Cutie. As the Glasgow, Scotland-based band opened its 35-minute set, it seemed like it was going to be a very small crowd for the evening.

The opening band was well received by the few thousand people in the amphitheater. The music was as interesting as this part of the band's bio on their Web site: They have played some live shows in this city, but want to meet people from other cities, in order that they can come and blow into tubes when they play live. Let's keep pop music alive by getting it out of that dress and into a sweater.

Ah, but this Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre in Alpharetta, where a noise ordinance assures that every concert starts on time, or maybe they'll pull the plug on the final act. Audiences coming to the amphitheater either don't understand that concerts don't always start late, or they only care about the main act.

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But by the time Death Cab for Cutie began playing "I Will Possess Your Heart," the 7,500 seats available might not all have been full, but there might have been more than 6,500 in attendance. The crowd skewed toward the younger set, which is no surprise when they count tunes on the Twilight soundtrack as their own.

I fully expected to hear there were a lot of noise complaints because the bass sounds and drums were pumped up high by the soundboard. Those carry much farther than high notes.

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On some of the songs whether it was the arrangement or the volume, it became difficult to hear the lead guitar or even vocals. But as the night wore on and other songs were played, Ben Gibbard's lead vocals could easily be distinguished from the music. For most of the crowd–perhaps everyone other than me–knowing all of those songs meant they knew all the lyrics and were singing along, so the driving beat did more to put them into the mood of a concert.

Besides, it was Ben Gibbard's birthday, and he was here in nearby Alpharetta spending it with us. What more could we ask?

Well, that guy who may or may not have been wearing pants might have other ideas. Gibbard did stop to ask if the shirtless young man was wearing pants, and didn't stop there, asking those standing around him near the front of the stage to confirm he had pants.

I've yet to see a complaint about the concert on Death Cab for Cutie's Facebook page or anywhere else, so the concert seemed to be an unqualified success. Four songs on the encore showed the band wasn't ready to leave the stage, either.

Check out this site for videos and a set list.

On Saturday night, Aug. 13, the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra shares the stage with Big Bad Voodoo Daddy. My Morning Jacket will perform a week later with Neko Case. Click here for a list of current shows at the amphitheatre.


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