Death Cab for Cutie at Troxy

“Millennial optimism” is a term coined to describe the feeling of an era where indie music reigned supreme, and even though Death Cab for Cutie were a core part of its soundtrack, at the height of their powers, their music was a pensive, moodier antidote to the stomp-clap majority.

But it is a Friday night after all, and the crowd gathered to see them at Troxy is anything but moody. This is the first of two sold-out nights at the East London venue, and an almost giddy sense of expectation permeates the room as the band steps onto the stage. Millennial optimism is in the room, one might say.

“We don’t have hits, but we do have classics,” frontman Ben Gibbard humbly says early on in the show, and the night’s carefully curated, career-spanning setlist is testament to that.

Riptides, from their latest album I Built You a Tower, opens the show, followed by the euphoric Roman Candles. Both newer tracks, they don’t get any less love than The New Year, whose opening chord is all the audience needs to erupt into song.

It’s beautiful to witness how well older songs hold up, while simultaneously realising that the recent ones do not pale in comparison. Every track played tonight is as important as the next, weaving a complex tapestry that has been decades in the making.

Now 50, Gibbard is sprightly as ever, his fluid, taciturn dancing lending a theatricality to the whole performance. The band is in top shape, though admittedly the show does occasionally feel too carefully rehearsed, perhaps a bit too polished.

But that’s not to say there is no connection between them and the audience. As they move on to the more sombre What Sarah Said, everyone sings along to the poignant final lyrics: “Love is watching someone die / So who’s gonna watch you die?”

To lighten the mood, Gibbard quips that “we have a considerable amount of songs about death” just before a sublime acoustic rendition of I Will Follow You into the Dark melds everyone’s voice into one for the loudest singalong of the evening. “How do you feel about artist participation?” Gibbard jokes as his own voice is drowned out.

Somehow, despite their glum subject matter, it’s these songs about death and loss that seem to conjure the sincerest feelings, and they are the common ground where all fans meet.

The rest of the night flows easily, with Cath… and Crooked Teeth from 2005’s Plans appearing like core memories before the set closes with Soul Meets Body. But the gig is not over yet, and the encore brings deep cuts Your Bruise and Marching Bands of Manhattan.

As Tiny Vessels and the anthemic Transatlanticism close out this flawless show, there is a sense that everyone in the room is sharing a strange intimacy. Fans file out of the venue with the mutual understanding that this was as much a healing experience as it was entertainment, all thanks to a band that knows how to spin gold from some of the darkest human emotions.

Antigoni Pitta
Photos: Miguel de Melo

For further information and future events, visit Death Cab for Cutie’s website here.

Watch the video for Punching the Flowers here: