Death Cab for Cutie Tickets

When emotional, sensitive indie rock featuring skinny jeans and horn-rimmed glasses hit its mainstream gold rush, Death Cab For Cutie were the instant poster-boys. But there’s a reason for that that goes far beyond any trend, as proven by the fact that they’re still going strong ten albums and darn near three decades in. Their earnest, heart-rending songwriting is still connecting and above all, still evolving — and their live show is a celebration of that rare, enduring magic.

Death Cab For Cutie began in Bellingham, Washington, when frontman Ben Gibbard released the demo cassette You Can Play These Songs With Chords in 1997. After the release saw a positive reaction within the indie scene, he turned the project into a full band, recruiting fellow Western Washington University students Chris Walla (guitar), Nick Harmer (bass) and Nathan Good (drums). In 1998, the band signed to Seattle’s Barsuk Records and released their debut album, Something About Airplanes, a scrappy and heartfelt slice of slowcore indie rock.

Good departed the band in 1999, and in 2000 the band released their second album, We Have the Facts and We’re Voting Yes. Hailed as a classic to this day, this record saw the band get a little less scrappy but remain just as heartfelt. The band embarked on heavy grassroots touring upon its release. In 2001 came Death Cab’s third album, The Photo Album. It received critical acclaim, with Q declaring it “full of beautiful pop songs”. While they didn’t chart in the band’s home country, singles from the album ‘A Movie Script Ending’, ‘I Was a Kaleidoscope’ and ‘We Laugh Indoors’ entered the UK singles charts. This led to the band’s first trip across the Atlantic in 2002, including appearances at Reading & Leeds festivals.

In February 2003, Gibbard released the acclaimed album Give Up with his side-project The Postal Service. Afterwards, Death Cab For Cutie regrouped with the addition of drummer Jason McGerr and released their fourth album, Transatlanticism, in October 2003. Here the band got more expansive and imaginative, delving into ballads as well as poppier structures. At this point they were receiving renewed mainstream interest after their inclusion on the soundtrack of popular teen drama The O.C, and as such the album became a breakthrough that sparked a major label bidding war. It’s gone on to be regarded as one of indie rock’s seminal releases, with NPR naming it as one of the fifty most important recordings of the 2000s. The band toured extensively in support of it, including a UK tour with The Cribs.

In 2005, Death Cab released their major-label debut album Plans on Atlantic Records. Seeing the band continue to tinker with expansive song structures as well as increased production value, it charted at No.4 on the US Billboard 200 and earned the band a Grammy nomination for Best Alternative Music Album — the first of four consecutive albums to receive a nomination. Lead single ‘Soul Meets Body’ became the band’s first to hit the US singles chart, while the heartbreaking acoustic ballad ‘I Will Follow You into the Dark’ received another Grammy nod for Best Pop Performance By a Duo or Group with Vocals. 

In 2008, the band released their sixth album, Narrow Stairs. A darker and more experimental album than Death Cab had released before, it charted at No.1 on the Billboard 200 and received positive reviews from critics. The band continued to enjoy touring success through 2008, including festival appearances from Coachella to Latitude. In October they supported Neil Young on a US tour, and they finished the year with a tour of the UK and Europe alongside Frightened Rabbit. In 2009, the band released the B-sides EP, The Open Door EP, which received a Grammy nomination for Best Alternative Album. The same year the band also contributed the song ‘Meet Me on the Equinox’ to the Twilight: New Moon soundtrack.

In 2011, came the seventh Death Cab For Cutie album, Codes and Keys, which was a lighter and more electronics-brushed record. It saw the band’s critical acclaim continue, with BBC Music declaring the album “subtly magnificent”. Lead single ‘You Are a Tourist’ reached No.1 on the Billboard Alternative chart. In 2012, the band were headliners at Barcelona’s Primavera Sound.

In 2014, Death Cab announced the departure of founding guitarist Chris Walla, though he remained with the band through the writing and recording of their eighth album, Kintsugi, released in 2015. The band performed two back-to-back headline shows at London’s Shepherds Bush Empire in June 2015, as well as appearing at Glastonbury. They continued to tour across North America and beyond throughout 2016 and 2017. In 2018 came their ninth album, Thank You For Today, for which they added long-time touring members Dave Depper and Zac Rae to their lineup.  The record received positive reviews, with The Independent naming it “the most immersive alt rock album you’ll hear all year” in a four-star review. In 2018, the band appeared at the Robert Smith-curated Meltdown Festival in London, while in 2019 they returned for another UK headline tour.

In 2022, Death Cab released their 10th album, Asphalt Meadows, which NME named “a return to [their] best”. Through autumn 2023, they embarked on a co-headline tour with fellow Gibbard vehicle The Postal Service, celebrating 20 years of Transatlanticism and Give Up.