“Why does love have to end?” asked Postal Service singer Ben Gibbard as the slightly distorted keyboard chords of he said/she said breakup duet “Nothing Better” floated from the stage to the sky above Morrison last night. Goosebumps blanketed my body as Gibbard delivered the first lyric, “Will someone please call a surgeon, who can crack my ribs and repair this broken heart that’s sure deserving of better company?” It’s arguably one of the best opening lines in recorded music history. The drama that unfolds as Gibbard trades verses with Rilo Kiley’s Jenny Lewis rivals Gotye’s “Somebody That I Used to Know.” The narrator in the tune is delusional, proposing marriage as the last ditch solution to an obviously difficult split. Personally, I could not have been happier.
Fans of the snail mail collaboration between Death Cab for Cutie frontman Gibbard and beat wizard Jimmy Tamborello have been waiting a full decade for the duo to reunite and tour. Discussions likely began when the pair’s Sub Pop sleeper hit Give Up neared ten years of existence and was finally certified platinum. It has gradually become a classic among song-based electronica connoisseurs. Give‘s influence can most obviously be heard in the output of Owl City, but ripples have impacted countless other songwriters and producers since its release. Cuts from its track listing were reanimated last night in front of an intelligent coliseum of lights (that occasionally resembled the Emerald City) by a four-piece that included Gibbard, Tamborello, Lewis and Bright Eyes’ Laura Burhenn. The run’s previous date had to be canceled over vocal concerns, but Denver larynx guru Buzz Reifman apparently had a hand in readying Gibbard’s self-described Tom Waits timbre for Red Rocks. Gibbard still struggled a little, though no one cared when the bleepy intro of Garden State staple “Such Great Heights” percolated into the ether. It’s doubtful there’s ever been a more appropriately elevated venue for the tune.
George Peele enjoys dancing on stilts and delivering Custom Singing Telegrams. He is Music Editor for 303 Magazine. Follow Peele on Twitter: @Orangepeelmoses. Avatar image courtesy Jonathan Shoup.