Last year Seattle’s Death Cab for Cutie returned with new album Thank You for Today, which was released via Atlantic Records. We caught them back in October when they were on the first leg of their U.S. tour in support of the album where they played Kings Theatre.
The band is back on the road touring in support of the album once again, which brought them back to New York City for a big-time performance in Queens, headlining Forest Hills Stadium on June 15th.
Opening up the shows on this run is Jenny Lewis, who is currently supporting her brand new album On the Line, released back in March via Warner Records. Lewis switched from operating behind a piano and center stage on a colorful elevated platform and guided her band through both new solo efforts as well as older songs, including Jenny Lewis with The Watson Twins songs “The Big Guns” and “Happy,” as well as Rilo Kiley’s “Silver Lining.” At 13-songs she got a pretty full set as an opener, but this was not the last that we would be seeing from Watson on this particular evening.
You may not have realized it but Death Cab for Cutie is now nine albums deep into their career, which means that they have accumulated quite a deep collection of songs to choose from for their live performances. While some bands will favor their newest releases, it’s a pleasant surprise at how balanced Death Cab’s setlists are in 2019, in fact, they actually played more songs from arguably their best album, Transatlanticism, than any of their most recent efforts. They dug even deeper with “Styrofoam Plates” from their 2001 album The Photo Album as well as “Photobooth” from their 2000 EP The Forbidden Love. Most impressive was the way they were able to blend all of these old treasures with new material like “60 & Punk” (their best new song in a long time) and make them all seem timeless and essential like all the best Death Cab material does.
While there were many cases to be made for the always powerful encore-closing triumph that is “Transatlanticism” or the rare performance of “We Looked Like Giants” as the highlight of the night, it was getting to see Jenny Lewis join the band during the encore for a mini-The Postal Service reunion with Ben Gibbard with their performance of The Postal Service’s “Nothing Better.” The packed crowd at Forest Hills was elated to get to see this rare moment take place and it was without a doubt one of my favorite concert moments of the entire year so far.
Find a full gallery of photos and the setlist for both Jenny Lewis and Death Cab for Cutie posted below.
Jenny Lewis:
Jenny Lewis setlist:
1. Heads Gonna Roll
2. Wasted Youth
3. The Big Guns (Jenny Lewis with The Watson Twins song)
4. Silver Lining (Rilo Kiley song)
5. Happy (Jenny Lewis with The Watson Twins song)
6. The Voyager
7. Do Si Do
8. She’s Not Me
9. Red Bull & Hennessy
10. Just One of the Guys
11. Little White Dove
12. Party Clown
13. On the Line
Death Cab for Cutie:
Death Cab for Cutie setlist:
1. The Ghosts of Beverly Drive
2. The New Year
3. Long Division
4. Title and Registration
5. Gold Rush
6. Crooked Teeth
7. Photobooth
8. No Sunlight
9. What Sarah Said
10. 60 & Punk
11. I Will Possess Your Heart
12. Autumn Love
13. Black Sun
14. Expo ’86
15. Northern Lights
16. Styrofoam Plates
17. Cath…
18. We Looked Like Giants
19. Soul Meets Body
Encore:
20. I Will Follow You Into the Dark
21. Nothing Better (The Postal Service cover) (with Jenny Lewis)
22. You Are a Tourist
23. Transatlanticism
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