Dumbek's Random Stuff

Really late review #2. Ben Gibbard @ 9:30 Club 5/10 (Early)

I was having a really crappy week. Work problems, boyfriend problems, family problems, money problems, etc. I was bitchy, angry and depressed all at once. What better way to turn my frown upside-down than to see BG since a bunch of happy-go-lucky, updeat, rockin' party anthems?

Accompanied by my dear friend Stella, we headed to the early show at the club. Early shows suck. It's impossible to get there in time for the openers and the crowd treats the whole thing like a giant happy-hour. Still - I'll take that over the late show, which didn't have Gibbard on stage until midnight. Ugh.

I'm terrible with song titles these days, but the show was the expected mix of Death Cab, Postal Service (I assume) and cover songs. Every emotion I listed above was all brought forth a little further with each song, but there's something about the songs that kind of eased the pain a little. I don't know if it's because I felt the "yeah - he gets it - he understands how I feel" thing, or just because the songs - no matter how sad, lonely or bitter they are - make me happy. Or, maybe I was just the fact that I was pounding Stellas because I was in a bad mood. Who knows. All I know is the music sounded great.

hmmm...let's see - songs..."Photo Booth", "Title and Registration", "I Will Follow You Into The Dark", "The Sound of Settling", that "I'm In Los Angeles Today..." song ...lots more. Oh wait - here's the setlist. A nice cover of Nirvana's "All Apologies" done on piano. Seeing him alone on stage - moving back and forth between piano and acoustic guitar - reminded me a lot of the Neil Young solo acoustic shows I saw years ago. Simple songs that you've heard a million times that can just rip your heart out, but make you happy at the same time. Perfect.

Surprisingly, the crowd went from chatty chatty chatty happy-hour mode to one of the most quiet and attentive crowds I've seen at the club. Impressive.

That's about all I remember. I waited too long. Oh well. Trust me - it was good. It almost makes me bummed that I skipped Death Cab when they played DAR a few months back. Almost.

Don't take my word on the quality of the show. It's up for streaming at NPR. It's a shame they don't make it downloadable, but I'm sure somebody not nearly as lazy as me has managed to pull it and rip it.

I'll try to get my thoughts on Velvet Revolver up tomorrow. Now - I'm off to see Elvis.