::MORE DEATH, LESS CUTIE::

I really like Plans, Death Cab for Cutie's latest album, but it's harder to map it into my current emotional landscape than the wrapped-in-wonder Transatlanticism. It's still sweetly charming, but it's about the passage of time and life -- not the shiny brilliance of consuming love. I still enjoy the latter more, but I remain an ardent fan of the band.

Last night, Death Cab for Cutie graced the stage at Stubb's BBQ in Austin, and Austin and I were there. We would've gone closer to home at the Ridglea on Friday night, except a) Broken Social Scene played the Gypsy Tea Room that night, and we didn't want to miss them, and b) we'd seen Death Cab at the Ridglea already. So, despite our sketchy history with going to Austin purely for concerts (Diplo rescheduled early last year at SXSW without notice, so we missed him, and I was way, way too tired when we went to see Four Tet after Vegas), we drove down Sunday afternoon.

The concert took place at Stubb's, an outdoor venue, and when we bought the tickets, I had visions of a clear early-November night, a chill in the air, a cozy-fuzzy hat on my head, and snuggling under the moonlight. Heh. It was about 80 degrees. This suited the lazy summeriness of much of Death Cab's repertoire, but we got sick of holding the jackets we'd brought in case the wind brought the need for them.

The stage is at the bottom of a gently sloping hill, and it was jarring in that technology-is-everywhere kind of way to see the sea of phone- and digicams in the audience in front of us. It reminded me of the huge LAN party at Quakecon.

At Stubb's, the stage features this soaring white awning which serves as a great projection screen for the light show. Being enamored of additive color mixing as I am, I caught a ROY G BIV series:














Here's their set list, not in order but to the best of my recollection:

Marching Bands of Manhattan
Soul Meets Body
Summer Skin
Different Names for the Same Thing
Crooked Teeth
What Sarah Said
President of What?
Company Calls
Company Calls, Epilogue
Movie Script Ending
Why You'd Want to Live Here
The New Year
Title and Registration
Sound of Settling

Encore:
I Will Follow You Into the Dark
Prove My Hypotheses

Notably missing from my Dream Concert were "Passenger Seat," "Lightness," and "Coney Island." I really wanted "Transatlanticism" to be the final encore, but they went and disproved my hypotheses. Damn.

The complete Flickr photoset is here.