This
one should have made perfect sense… Death Cab For Cutie, enduring Seattle
alt-rock veterans and the black jeans-wearing, thinking US indie-fan’s second
favourite band (after The National, of course…!), have recently inveigled their
way back into the forefront of my listening fashion, their plangent return-to-form
2018 effort “Thank You For Today” being followed by 2022’s splendid “Asphalt
Meadows”, possibly their best effort since those halycon early 00’s days of
“Transatlanticism” and the seminal “The Photo Album” (still easily their finest
work for me). “Asphalt Meadows” is an altogether more upbeat and immediate
effort, whilst still replete with DCFC staples as intelligent songcraft and
introspective confessional lyricism, and I confess I had difficulty picking a
favourite track to represent them on my “Best Of” 2022 mix CD! So, an initial
announcement of a one-off date at the Royal Albert Hall piqued my interest
enough to cough up the rather steep ticket price, in the hope of hearing DCFC’s
trademark clear, melancholy melody and musicianship displayed to best effect in
these ornate and opulent surroundings…
I
hit the road at 4, and, as per the recent Killing Joke gig here (gig 1,269),
parked up at Osterley and tubed to Gloucester Road for the hike to the venue,
albeit in anticipation of a slightly less visceral and brutal (and hopefully
better-sounding) experience than that one! Sorted out some family stuff on the
phone after grabbing a central spot a few rows back, but my head was back in
the game for openers Slow Pulp at 7.30. Beloved by DCFC’s main man Ben Gibbard
(a point he made frequently during their set), Slow Pulp weren’t a plodding
version of Jarvis’ 90’s lot, rather an alt/dreampop/ Americana collective from
Wisconsin. After a wistful and wispy opener, “I Don’t Get” was a little more
upbeat and robust, the set subsequently switching between these 2 paces of
material. It was all pleasant enough, smooth and dreamy indie-lite but nothing
really stuck; even a later, grungier number with Pixies-esque power riffery
seemed, well, polite, the blonde vocalist even breaking out a harmonica
for the full-on hushed Americana closer “Backwoods Man”…
I
shuffled back to 3 or 4 rows back to let some tiny girls in front of me, but even
approaching showtime there was still fairly ample space to move around in my
position. Sell-out? Didn’t feel like it… Ben led the troops on at 8.30, easing
into opener “I Don’t Know How I Survive” under a single spotlight. The quiet
opening to this number should have led to the startling riff underpinning the
hook, but unfortunately it sounded too echoey and bassy on arrival, with not
enough of Ben’s more nuanced vocal (made more notable by Ben’s predilection to
go slightly off mic for his delivery) or guitar sound in the mix. Oh dear, here
we go again…
The
anticipated pounding strident backbeat of “The New Year” was drowned out by
even a polite singalong from my fellow punters, and despite Ben’s obvious
energy, kinetic enthusiasm and clear pleasure at playing here (“sometimes we
say we’re happy to be places but we’re not; but we’re really happy to be
here!”), the sound never lived up to his/ the bands performance levels or my
expectations. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed their performance in large part; an
early “Movie Script Ending” was plaintive, understated and quite lovely, the
undulating riff of a groovy “Here To Forever” was splendid, and an acapella
outro to the slightly menacing “Black Sun” was sung back reverentially by the
crowd. However, like that House Of Love 2018 Roundhouse gig (gig 1,110) I just
wanted it to sound better, fuller, clearer, more…
“After
the last month [on tour] I swear we should be sponsored by Boots!” quipped Ben
before the metronomic chug of “I Miss Strangers” , actually the best and
fullest sounding number thus far. Further nostalgia stories followed about
their first London dates at the Dublin Castle in 2001 (“the [house] mic smelled
like it had been in somebody’s ass!”) before a suitably melancholy,
piano-embellished “Rand McNally”; then a solo acoustic “I Will Follow You Into
The Dark” was a beautiful, heartbreaking paean, wonderfully observed and accompanied
by the crowd and easily the highlight of the main set. “Asphalt Meadows” was
another highlight, building to a layered crescendo, before Ben drew the DCFC
“recital” to a close with “a prayer to the American West”, the talking verse
and chiming riffery of “Foxglove Through The Clearcut”, almost a companion
piece to Clem Snide’s excellent “I Love The Unknown”.
A
4-song encore featured an almost jolly, strumalong “Soul Meets Body” and
gushing thanks from Ben (“never mind a career highlight; this is a life
highlight”) before “Transatlanticism”; comfortably the best and best sounding number
of the night, the solo piano opening ceded to the rhythm rolling in like the
tide, before the cymbal crashed in like breakers on the shore as the repetitive
hook built to a crescendo. Great way to finish an ultimately enjoyable, if
uneven and frustrating, near-2 hour performance. A slow walk back to the tube,
then a maddening drive home down a roadworks- and speed restrictions-riddled M4
got me home for a tired 12.45. Ugh! So, it should have made sense, but kind of didn’t
– 2 poor sounding gigs in a row at such a prestige venue as the Royal Albert
Hall is, frankly, a bit shit really. But none of those issues were down to
Death Cab For Cutie; they did their best to put on a fine performance, so fair
play for that, but next time I see them I’ll hope to go somewhere that the
sound works properly…
I’ve never been keen on the Albert Hall sound - definitely too echoey. However, I saw Public Service Broadcasting’s Prom last year from a higher vantage point and that sounded great. Maybe a venue to avoid the front?? Saw DCFC at Bristol O2 a few years back and they were really good then.
ReplyDeleteYou might be right - I saw Cowboy Junkies there many moons ago from the balconies and I remember that sound being fine. It's quite a cavernous place so perhaps it's better further back... Yes, I was at that DCFC Bristol gig (the one with The Beths supporting, right?) and they were excellent...
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