Thursday, May 17, 2007

Ben Gibbard plays to a sold-out crowd

Loyal Death Cab For Cutie and Postal Service fans turned out in droves to sing along with Ben Gibbard last week at the Cat's Cradle.

Gibbard opened the show with "Sing My Song," a Donovan cover which transitioned straight into "Brand New Colony." Through the night, Gibbard played songs from the entire Death Cab For Cutie catalog as well as a few tunes from his successful side-project The Postal Service. Most of the show was just Gibbard and his guitar, but he took a seat at the piano for a few tunes including "Soul Meets Body," "Passenger Seat" and a very interesting cover of Nirvana's "All Apologies."

While most of the crowd sang every word and respected the intimate vibe of the show, there was a lot of underlying chatter that made the one man show a little hard to enjoy. Gibbard played a great set and kept the bulk of the crowd happy through the night.

On a random note, there was a celebrity in attendance that night. John Krasinski, best known as Jim Halpert on The Office, could be seen ducking in and out of the backstage area throughout the night. Krasinksi and Gibbard are apparently friends. Kransinski hosted Death Cab For Cutie's DVD release party for Directions last year and Gibbard has a role in Brief Interviews with Hideous Men, a film directed, co-written and starring Krasinski. Unfortunately, Krasinski along with Gibbard, David Bazan and some others, snuck out of their bus and headed down the street to bar, leaving Krasinksi's attendance at the Cradle a mystery.

[photo by Kevin Norris]