Death Cab For Cutie
Live @ Rainbow 21/02/06

THE REVIEW

Well, I don't write much anymore. I prefer to read. On the 21st, I head to the Rainbow, in a terrible mood, with depression arriving well before my shadow (also because it's nighttime and there are no streetlights). After 40 minutes, I find this place, go in, and wait. I meet Josi and Magomarcelo, exchange a few words. The concert begins.

Death Cab play well, they start with the opening of Plans, it's all very clear: they play well. Everything remains very clear for a long time. Then suddenly I realize something. Am I enjoying myself? Is the concert satisfying me? The answer is NO. It feels like a live DVD. There's zero engagement. They play well, of course, but that's it. The drummer is excellent, the bassist too, the rest more than hold their own, but I'm not having fun. I'm not having fun because it seems like I'm watching a TV broadcast. Death Cab For Cutie have given what they needed to give by now. The encore is emblematic. I Will Follow You Into The Dark, and meanwhile, the audience exchanges opinions, chats...

The reverential silence is absent. This doesn't irritate me at all; it's not the audience being rude (on the contrary, one of the best I've ever seen), it's the Death Cab who don't thrill. Transatlanticism does please a bit more. Many songs from the passable and nothing more Plans, The Photo Album, and Transatlanticism are somewhat snubbed. I leave unsatisfied. On the metro, I exchange a few words with some American guys who ask for my opinion. They agree with me. Maybe my expectation was excessive, my mood the darkest, but I really wanted something else. Not well-played songs, I wanted emotions. Rating of appreciation: 6. Emotional rating: Not available.