Death Cab/Kweller

[paige]

Originally posted by Bags:
  It's a Saturday night show -- hot damn!  Who's heading to this one?

have fun being surrounded by about 900 underage girls and their emo boyfriends who only like death cab because of that damn show the OC or who think ben kweller is just too cute to miss out on. blegha barfing.

[Jaguär]

I don't think that DCFC are Poppy at all as a genre, just very popular; which would seem to be contrary to my opinion.
 
 I don't like them either. They remind me way too much of Dashboard Confessional, whom I abhor. Given a choice, I'd take DCFC anyday over DC. It's those voices. YUCK! Maybe if DCFC's singer would pummel DC, it might cause him(DCFC) to sprout some balls and not sound like such a fucking ninny.
 
 Ben Kweller does nothing at all for me.
 
 Wouldn't mind seeing Aveo though I think they will come off as your run-of-the-mill 1st of 3 acts. Some of their songs I really like and some bore me.

[Celeste]

Originally posted by Bags:
 I do like "Transatlanticism."  Don't have any other DCfC albums.

Try "We Have the Facts..." it is the best one...

[Charlie Nakatestes, Japanese Golfer]

Ben Kweller has to have one of the friggin ugliest mugs in all of music. No way would this pussy ever get laid if he weren't a musician.
 
  <img src="http://www.popmatters.com/music/interviews/images/kweller-ben-030604.jpg" alt=" - " />
 
 
 

Originally posted by i do not heart winter:
   

Originally posted by Bags:
  It's a Saturday night show -- hot damn!  Who's heading to this one?

have fun being surrounded by about 900 underage girls and their emo boyfriends who only like death cab because of that damn show the OC or who think ben kweller is just too cute to miss out on. blegha barfing. [/b]

[Bags]

BEN KWELLER "On My Way" ATO/RCA AVEO "Battery" Barsuk
 Friday, April 2, 2004; Page WE07
 
 The title track of Ben Kweller's "On My Way" is a simple folkie tune that might have won him 2004's New Dylan award if only that honor hadn't been retired in the '90s, after one too many folk revivals fizzled. Most of the album, however, has a raucous classic-rock sound, and it closes with a song that recalls the layered late-'60s style of groups such as the Beach Boys.
 
 Since Kweller is no Dylan as a lyricist, the bigger arrangements are for the best.
 Bigger doesn't mean slicker. Supervised by Ryan Adams's producer Ethan Johns, who encouraged a live-in-the-studio strategy, "On My Way" is looser than Kweller's 2002 debut, "Sha Sha," which wasn't exactly polished to an immaculate shine. Such songs as "Down" and "Ann Disaster" wrap the singer's sensitivity in swagger -- exemplified by Mike Stroud's brash guitar -- while "The Rules" is only slightly folkier. What links the album's various styles is Kweller's gift for melody, whether in the simple, shouted refrain of the opening "I Need You Back" or in the more complex harmonies of the closing "Different but the Same."
 
 While lacking the immediacy of Kweller's catchiest work, Seattle's Aveo has a more assured sense of style. The band's second album, "Battery," is a fine collection of cantering rockers and pensive ballads whose arrangements are lush yet not fussy. Such songs as "Dust That Dreams of Brooms" combine sprung rhythms and William Wilson's yearning vocals -- the band's name means "I desire" in Latin -- with a finesse that recalls the Smiths. Aveo is basically a guitar-bass-drums trio, but it's telling that Wilson places glockenspiel ahead of guitar on the list of instruments he plays. While the three musicians are supplemented here only by keyboards and cello, they have carefully considered each timbre. Aveo desires, but it also ponders, and its brainy pop-rock neatly integrates the two.
 
 -- Mark Jenkins
 Both appearing Saturday at the 9:30 club with Death Cab for Cutie.

[Bombay Chutney]

Note that Death Cab is the 2nd of the 3 bands tonight.  From the front page:
 
 Saturday April 3
 Sold Out
 Doors open at 9:00
 Aveo 9:30
 Death Cab For Cutie 10:30
 Ben Kweller 12:00

[Jaguär]

That's sad, except for the Metro people. Or for those who relish the chance of still skipping out and hitting DC9 or some other venue afterwards.

[Bags]

Now, I was a marginal Death Cab fan (like Transatlanticism, really like Postal Service).   I went to the show because some friends really wanted to go.  I figure, it's Saturday (my fault, I forgot it's the DC United home opener day).
 
 Great show -- lots of energy, good performing, way more energy than I was expecing -- just really, really good.  And this is a sold-out show, which can be hard for me to enjoy.  Loved them, bought a CD 'cuz I like 'em even more now.  Apparently they're coming back...
 
 Ben Kweller was the 'headliner' - my friends left but I got to hang with Skeeter (which is a treat, everyone -- thanks for the beer, skeet!).  Pretty good with the full band; quite loud when he was on his own -- but I left a couple songs in to his "solo" portion because (1) I'd been drinking since 3:00 pm, and (2) I didn't want to fight for a cab.
 
 Overall, great show -- surprising and happily.

[J'Mal]

Something about it, I dunno.... Death Cab was definitely better than they were at the Black Cat a few months ago, and the Black Cat was a good show.  Tonight was something else.  The sound was definitely better.
 
 Only disappointed that it was far too short.  They only had about an hour.  So they didn't follow "Company Calls" with "Company Calls Epilogue," didn't play "405" or "Title Track"...  they just didn't have enough time.
 
 At least half the crowd was there primarily for Death Cab, easily.  I hope they come back and do a full show, at the 9:30.
 
 BK was good, but not Death Cab great.  His first song was a disaster, musically and also technically (busted bass).  Otherwise very entertaining.

[Driveway]

BK beat the crap out of death cab musically.  man the crowd was boring during death cab, but BK brought the rock.  i love transatlanticism and we have the facts, but they were just boring live, i dunno.  the black cat show was better i think.  BK is great every time.

[Bombay Chutney]

I thought Death Cab was great.  After some of the reviews about previous shows, I wasn't really expecting much.  I was pleasantly surprised.  I thought they had lots of energy and sounded great.
 
 I had never even heard of BK until I heard he was on this bill.  He was OK, but the show didn't make me want to run back and buy any of his CDs.  I might have enjoyed it more if I was more familiar with his material.
 
 Fun hanging out with Bags for a bit, even if our conversations were limited to 15-second bursts between BK songs.  

[ratioci nation]

That was the best performance I have seen Death Cab give, but it was short.  And something about them is lacking for me, I enjoy the songs but none of them stay with me.  I can't remember a single great point, was just an enjoyable show.  
 
 I left a couple of songs in to Kweller's set.  I have seen him twice before and was not up for another.  While his lyrics are stupid he can write a catchy song, but the new songs he played early were awful.

[skonster]

So does that mean everybody here missed the BK acoustic rendition of ice ice baby?  Good times.  I thought the show was quite good - 9:30 seemes a bit more condusive to Death Cab's sound than the Black Cat was (they just seem to need a slightly larger space for their sound) and I enjoyed Kweller although I hadn't been familiar with him.  
 
 And a cheers to the dj between sets - I was enjoying the music.

[Bombay Chutney]

Originally posted by skonster:
  So does that mean everybody here missed the BK acoustic rendition of ice ice baby?  Good times.

I saw it, but it took me a minute or so to place the song.  It was cute.  I left shortly after that though.

[Jaguär]

Okay, who was there for the opener, Aveo? I'm very curious as to how they came off. I love their songs "Haley" and "Sleep" but have also heard some songs by them that were very dull and rough. Could have been bad demos but not too sure of that. No, in no way did I expect them to compare to the professionalism of either DCFC or BK. Only interested in if they at least lived up to a young opener's level and whether or not to keep my eyes opened for any future bookings of theirs. Thanks in advance.