Death Cab for Cutie at the Long Beach Terrace Theatre

December is finally here and so starts the concert marathon. The last time I saw Death Cab for Cutie was at the Bridge School Benefit concert in Mountain View. They played 2 different acoustic sets that were spectacular. I had also seen them on their late summer tour at the Greek theatre as well as the KCRW concert with Franz Ferdinand. I figured their tour was over and Ben would work on the new Postal Service record but alas the boys packed up their stuff for another go around. Since the show was in the LBC and it was Death Cab... I couldn't even muster an excuse not to go. After stopping off for some Tsunami's Crunch rolls, I rolled up to the LBC. Jenny Lewis and the Watson twins opened for them. I have seen Jenny with Rilo Kiley when they opened for Coldplay but they didn't leave an impression. Jenny Lewis takes a different turn as a solo artist on her album "Rabbit Fur Coat". Her sound is a more alternative country vibe. I was very surprised that I enjoyed her set so much. She had the requisite costume changes as well as showing off her talents on the keyboards, guitar, and a dance number with the Watson twins. They played a 45 minute opening set and you couldn't have asked for more. Bonus points for the Watson Twins for playing the sticks, and the tambourine!!! The Watson Twins will be playing the Getty museum in 2007 so I might have to swing by and see how they do. Ben also came out and did a song with Jenny. Death Cab came on and played a similar set as the one I saw at the Greek. This is nothing to complain about since they played such favs as "The New Year", "Marching Bands of Manhattan", "A Movie Script Ending", "Soul Meets Body", "I Will Follow You Into the Dark", a hair raising version of "Transatlanticism", and "Sound of Settling". For those who haven't seen Death Cab live.. you either love it or hate it. They really turn up the guitars and let it loose. The songs wield a sharper attack live and would surprise some people expecting a mellow show. They told the crowd to stand because it was a, "Rock Show" as Ben said. Ben also pulled a "Pennywise"(the Hermosa Beach Punk Band) by inviting the crowd to come closer to the stage since there was empty space. After the security guards panicked, Chris Walla advised all the people in the wings to go back to their original seats. I stayed the course because my row emptied out and I still had a good view. I ended up seeing Jimmy Tamborello (the other half of the Postal Service) at Spaceland the next night which was ironic.