News Article

The Washington-grown Indie rock band Death Cab for Cutie, nominated for two Grammy Awards last year, will perform in Gonzaga’s McCarthey Athletic Center on Friday evening, April 24. Doors open at 7 p.m. The bands Cold War Kids and Ra Ra Riot open the show at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $20 for GU students and $30 for the public and can be purchased at the Crosby Student Center; the $30 public tickets also can be purchased through TicketsWest. The event is the Gonzaga Student Body Association’s spring concert.

Death Cab for Cutie band members Ben Gibbard, Nicholas Harmer, Jason McGerr and Chris Walla were nominated for best rock song for “I Will Possess Your Heart,” a track from “Narrow Stairs,” which was nominated for best alternative music album. While the popular band did not win either award, the two Grammy nominations have cranked their fame into hyperdrive.

Joe Di Re, GSBA dances and concerts chair, said the band has a huge following among Gonzaga students and a large audience in the Inland Northwest. Di Re said GSBA collaborated with David Lindsay, Gonzaga’s director of student activities, to bring the popular Bellingham, Wash.-based band to campus.

“The more that I thought about it and the more we collaborated, I began to think that we could definitely make this happen,” Di Re said.

For his part, Lindsay said he is more than pleased with the students’ selection.

"Personally, I am thrilled about this concert,” Lindsay said, “all three bands are very talented, with songs that are relevant, lyrics that are strong and a musical strength that crosses several genres.”

Death Cab for Cutie is looking to do shows in areas with large younger audiences, Di Re said, adding that GSBA is marketing the concert as an Inland Northwest event with invitations to students at Whitworth, Montana State, Eastern, Central, and Washington State universities. Death Cab for Cutie is performing at Gonzaga and a handful of other universities as part of its upcoming nationwide tour.

The news appears to have created a buzz among students, said Matt Wintheiser, a Gonzaga sophomore and Death Cab for Cutie fan. “I was pretty surprised,” Wintheiser said. “I didn’t think Gonzaga could pull off getting such a big band to come to a relatively small school in Spokane, Washington. My props go to GSBA.” 

Di Re hopes bringing such a well-known band to campus will help make Gonzaga even more popular among prospective college students. “This just seemed like the perfect time to do this,” Di Re said.

For more information, contact Joe Di Re at (509) 313-5824 via e-mail.