Death Cab for Cuties with Travis Morrison at First Avenue on 10/16/04

By: Jim Brunzell III

When I first saw that Death Cab for Cutie was coming back to First Avenue, I shrugged it off. I’d seen Death Cab five times since the fall of 2000 and had no real intention of seeing them a sixth time. The times I’d seen them before it seemed like they didn’t give a shit that they were in a band. They looked confused and lethargic. But I kept going back to see them, hoping the next show would be better. Well, here I am reviewing their show. Why? Two words: Travis Morrison. When I found out the former front man of the under appreciated late 90’s band, the Dismemberment Plan, was opening the show, I bought a ticket right away. Having seen “The Plan” twice before, once on the Death/Dismemberment Tour, I felt sure Morrison would dazzle the crowd as he had on previous visits to Minnesota.

I was a bit nervous, however, when Morrison walked on stage. I had been talking him up all evening to my friends, mostly speaking in superlatives about how great his performance was going to be, when in reality I had no idea how he would be as a solo performer. I even told them before the show started that on the Death/Dismemberment Tour that D.P. blew Death Cab away. And having purchased Morisson’s new solo album, Travistan, just a few weeks earlier, I had no idea how the songs would translate from the studio to a live show. I am a fan of the new album, but it’s a 180 degree turn compared to any of the Dismemberment Plan albums.

After Morrison’s first song, my friends looked at me as if to say, “What the hell is this?” Equipped with three keyboard players (counting Morrison himself), one drummer, and one percussionist, it was an odd arrangement of instruments to say the least. But once Morrison went into, “The Word Cop”, he found the madcap rhythms I knew he was capable of. As he danced around, sang in his falsetto, and yelled “YEAH!” every chance he got in between his offbeat, quirky lyrics, he was on right on target. In addition to other tracks from the album like “Born in 72’”, “Song For the Orca”, and “Change”, he played two hilarious covers: One was “When I Think of You” by Janet Jackson, and another was “What’s Your Fantasy?” by Ludacris. (Go to the Morrison’s site below to download this MP3.) Before playing “Fantasy?” Morrison asked the audience if anyone was going into the Peace Corps, and a young man named Adam shouted out that he was going and would be stationed in the Philippines. Morrison dedicated “Fantasy” to this young gentleman.

When Death Cab came on stage, the audience went berserk (as I suspected they probably would.) Lead vocalist Ben Gibbard grabbed his guitar and went straight into “A Movie Script Ending.” Looking down at the sardines on the main floor, all the emo kids appeared swept away by Gibbard’s gentle vocals. It was almost as if they had to hold on to the person next to them to stay standing. (It was that delicate of a moment from this reviewer’s eye). Transatlanticism is still their most recent LP and they played more than a handful of tracks from the album. It wasn’t until the third song, “The New Year,” the LP’s opening track, however, that the crowd really exploded. I was honestly blown away at how many concertgoers were singing along with the song. (I have to say they actually harmonized quite well along with Gibbard on this one.)

Throughout the show, the band played with more intensity than I’d seen them exhibit in previous shows. The songs were sharper in sound and the band members themselves seemed to enjoy playing each song. An exceptional surprise in their set came when they played a satisfying cover of Freedy Johnston’s “Bad Reputation.”

Though I still may not see them again, this time around, it was different. DCFC poured their souls out on stage, the songs were nothing short of amazing, and Gibbard and company gave the fans exactly what they paid for. But it took six shows for me to finally see DCFC really shine?

Location Info: First Avenue
Artist Info: Death Cab For Cutie, Travis Morrison

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