By Sean Roberts ~ When one thinks of the indie music scene in the Midwest, they often think of Omaha as being the central hub for concerts. This may be true for most bands, but the quintessential indie band Death Cab for Cutie has seemed to overlook this.
Luckily for indie fans, Death Cab came through Omaha for the first time in three years on April 11 for a one night only performance at the Omaha Music Hall.
After hearing that Death Cab was coming through the area, many snatched up tickets as soon as they went on sale, since they had missed out the last time they came through Omaha. This turned out to be a good idea, because upon arrival to the venue, there was a huge “Sold Out” sign posted above the marquis.
Once at the venue, concertgoers saw overpriced merchandise, food and drink and took in a wide variety of people at the event. Normally concerts tend to attract one or two types of people to the shows, but this one was different. There were indie snobs, hipster high school kids, young professionals, middle-aged people, middle school kids, and even some retirees. Just about every type of person from every subculture was at this show, which was a true testament to Death Cab’s music and how far of a reach it had.
The opening band went on and off without much as a stir of interest from the crowd, after a 45 minute long set. Then it finally came time for the moment people had been waiting for. The red velvet curtain rose, and a stage, awash in blue lights appeared with the traditional four-piece band set-up, and a slightly odd sight: a band riser with music stands and chairs.
This was all cleared up when a full string section comprised of violinists, viola, and a cello player took to the riser. The string ensemble started off with a flourish of chords that mixed both classical and contemporary feels to it for about two minutes and then moved into “Passenger Seat” off of their fourth studio album “Transatlanticism.” The rest of Death Cab then appeared on stage and put on a performance that was second to none.
Since Death Cab doesn’t tour very much, you’d like to think that they spend that time practicing for live dates and releasing new albums, and you’d be absolutely right. Death Cab went on to put on a performance that had the entire venue singing.
Although Death Cab doesn’t use a full string set up for most of their albums, it worked perfectly with their repertoire of old standards that fans love, and the title tracks off of their most recent albums.
Finally Death Cab called it quits for the night after 16 songs, only to be called back out for a whopping six-song encore. Death Cab left the stage to a standing ovation that they greatly deserved. Hopefully after that show Death Cab will get the picture that they are loved here in the Midwest and will decided to frequent it a bit more often.
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