Trick or Treat...
If you read my livejournal, you probably remember me mentioning at some point how I was desperately trying to secure a date to the Death Cab for Cutie concert. I exhausted my possibilities and finally resolved to go solo...however, tickets were finally sold out by the time I was going to purchase mine (which happened to be the first week of October). For the last month, I had an ache in my heart knowing that Death Cab would be in Orlando on October 30 and that I would not be there to see/hear them. I contemplated going to Hollywood, FL for the show on Halloween, but that's roughly 2.5 hours away and the concert wouldn't start until 8...you can imagine how late I'd be returning home. So...I was just going to miss out.
UNTIL...
About 1.30 yesterday afternoon I received one of the greatest phone calls of my life. Briana called to let me know that they had an extra ticket...was I interested? YOU BET! Unfortunately, I had to cancel movie and dinner plans with a friend (which are tentatively rescheduled for this evening) in order to go...but, I was SO THERE.
I met up with Kristin and Briana & company (I won't name names because I don't think I've ever mentioned the other people before). There were 9 of us and we took up a row...yeah right they were sold out! I mean, I'm sure they did sell out (especially the balcony seats), but there were SO many empty seats up in the balcony (perhaps ticket holders decided that they would rather be down in the thick of things in the standing room only section...no thanks!). Our seats were magical: right smack dab in the center.
We arrived and were in our seats at about 8.30. The opening act, Star from Montreal, began promptly at 8.00 and finished at 8.45. They were all right, a little loud and hard to understand. Emily said, "I can't understand them at all. You know, they're from Canada." I found that amusing because you know Canadians, so hard to understand...with their difficult language and all. During the set change, I could feel the excitement building. I mean, COME ON, I WAS AT A DEATH CAB FOR CUTIE CONCERT...I felt like I had been given a second chance at life...something that was impossible happened. I was Cinderella and Briana was my fairy godmother giving me the extra ticket. Life couldn't get any better. I talked to Melissa and Kristin about what songs we all HAD to hear and what we expected them to play first.
And then it was time.
Death Cab rushed the stage and I went crazy. I couldn't sit stilll; I was so excited. It is always a neat feeling when you experience a dream come true and you're aware of it. That's how last night was...complete and utter pure magic. The first note of the organ and I knew: Marching Bands of Manhattan, the opening track to their newest album, Plans. Ben Gibbard, the lead singer, sounded so calm and smooth, just like he does on their recordings. The song was awesome. My heart is fluttering just thinking about it. It is the very song that I anticipated them playing first (probably because it's the first track on Plans). Then, they went into to "New Year", one of my all time favorite songs. It was awesome. A couple songs into the set, the guitar began the driving notes that are the back bone for "Title and Registration", along with Ben keeping a steady beat on a drum thing (I thought it was a snare drum when I saw a video of the performance from Paste Magazine, but in concert I could tell it wasn't a snare drum...I don't know what it was exactly). AMAZING. The band has definitely control over many instruments. Ben often would throw his guitar to a tech guy standing by on stage and walk over to the piano. The other guitarist took over for the bass player on one song so that he could play on the keys. And then, during "We Looked Like Giants", the sound guys brought another set of drums on to the stage and Ben sat down to "break it down" at the extra set. It was pretty dang cool. He played the acoustic for one song only, "Soul Meets Body" (and believe you me, I went crazy when the baa-baas came on). They did so many other songs that were absolutely awesome:
Sound of Settling
Expo '86
Summer Skin
Different Names for the Same Thing
What Sarah Said (beautiful)
I Will Follow You Into the Dark (Ben came back on stage for the encore by himself and played this one)
They played some songs from their older albums (that I don't know). And then, they left the stage. But, I knew it wasn't over. I knew an encore would follow and I believed in my heart of hearts that they'd end with "Transatlanticism." I think I willed Ben to sing it. I was sending him messages telepathically all during the show... And wouldn't you know, after he played two songs on the guitar, he threw it to someone on stand by and took his seat at the piano. That first chord was almost too much for me to take. My heart ached (in a good way) so much that I seriously didn't know if I was going to be able to handle hearing the song. I handled it. It was amazing.
The show was awesome. And, they cancelled the Hollywood show because their Hard Rock doesn't have power still thanks to Wilma. But, Death Cab WILL be playing Orlando for another night.
I got home about 12.20 and fell asleep listening to "Transatlanticism" and thinking good thoughts :).
Today, it's Halloween and I'm updating from K-207 as Cinderella. My kids are doing a Creepy Cross Word Puzzle for extra credit and I'm happy. Next Sunday will be completely awesome, too. I asked S today if he was at all excited about seeing Copeland...and he admitted that he was, a little. That's enough for me to go on! Seriously, my life can't get any better than it is at this very moment.
This evening, I'm meeting a friend for Wallace and Grommit and sushi. Life.is.good.
UNTIL...
About 1.30 yesterday afternoon I received one of the greatest phone calls of my life. Briana called to let me know that they had an extra ticket...was I interested? YOU BET! Unfortunately, I had to cancel movie and dinner plans with a friend (which are tentatively rescheduled for this evening) in order to go...but, I was SO THERE.
I met up with Kristin and Briana & company (I won't name names because I don't think I've ever mentioned the other people before). There were 9 of us and we took up a row...yeah right they were sold out! I mean, I'm sure they did sell out (especially the balcony seats), but there were SO many empty seats up in the balcony (perhaps ticket holders decided that they would rather be down in the thick of things in the standing room only section...no thanks!). Our seats were magical: right smack dab in the center.
We arrived and were in our seats at about 8.30. The opening act, Star from Montreal, began promptly at 8.00 and finished at 8.45. They were all right, a little loud and hard to understand. Emily said, "I can't understand them at all. You know, they're from Canada." I found that amusing because you know Canadians, so hard to understand...with their difficult language and all. During the set change, I could feel the excitement building. I mean, COME ON, I WAS AT A DEATH CAB FOR CUTIE CONCERT...I felt like I had been given a second chance at life...something that was impossible happened. I was Cinderella and Briana was my fairy godmother giving me the extra ticket. Life couldn't get any better. I talked to Melissa and Kristin about what songs we all HAD to hear and what we expected them to play first.
And then it was time.
Death Cab rushed the stage and I went crazy. I couldn't sit stilll; I was so excited. It is always a neat feeling when you experience a dream come true and you're aware of it. That's how last night was...complete and utter pure magic. The first note of the organ and I knew: Marching Bands of Manhattan, the opening track to their newest album, Plans. Ben Gibbard, the lead singer, sounded so calm and smooth, just like he does on their recordings. The song was awesome. My heart is fluttering just thinking about it. It is the very song that I anticipated them playing first (probably because it's the first track on Plans). Then, they went into to "New Year", one of my all time favorite songs. It was awesome. A couple songs into the set, the guitar began the driving notes that are the back bone for "Title and Registration", along with Ben keeping a steady beat on a drum thing (I thought it was a snare drum when I saw a video of the performance from Paste Magazine, but in concert I could tell it wasn't a snare drum...I don't know what it was exactly). AMAZING. The band has definitely control over many instruments. Ben often would throw his guitar to a tech guy standing by on stage and walk over to the piano. The other guitarist took over for the bass player on one song so that he could play on the keys. And then, during "We Looked Like Giants", the sound guys brought another set of drums on to the stage and Ben sat down to "break it down" at the extra set. It was pretty dang cool. He played the acoustic for one song only, "Soul Meets Body" (and believe you me, I went crazy when the baa-baas came on). They did so many other songs that were absolutely awesome:
Sound of Settling
Expo '86
Summer Skin
Different Names for the Same Thing
What Sarah Said (beautiful)
I Will Follow You Into the Dark (Ben came back on stage for the encore by himself and played this one)
They played some songs from their older albums (that I don't know). And then, they left the stage. But, I knew it wasn't over. I knew an encore would follow and I believed in my heart of hearts that they'd end with "Transatlanticism." I think I willed Ben to sing it. I was sending him messages telepathically all during the show... And wouldn't you know, after he played two songs on the guitar, he threw it to someone on stand by and took his seat at the piano. That first chord was almost too much for me to take. My heart ached (in a good way) so much that I seriously didn't know if I was going to be able to handle hearing the song. I handled it. It was amazing.
The show was awesome. And, they cancelled the Hollywood show because their Hard Rock doesn't have power still thanks to Wilma. But, Death Cab WILL be playing Orlando for another night.
I got home about 12.20 and fell asleep listening to "Transatlanticism" and thinking good thoughts :).
Today, it's Halloween and I'm updating from K-207 as Cinderella. My kids are doing a Creepy Cross Word Puzzle for extra credit and I'm happy. Next Sunday will be completely awesome, too. I asked S today if he was at all excited about seeing Copeland...and he admitted that he was, a little. That's enough for me to go on! Seriously, my life can't get any better than it is at this very moment.
This evening, I'm meeting a friend for Wallace and Grommit and sushi. Life.is.good.
posted by alisa beth at 9:57 AM
2 comments
