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Dateline: 5/14/2009

GONZAGA UNIVERSITY NEWS RELEASE
By Megan Hervey
Class of 2011

Death Cab for Cutie Show Rocks Gonzaga

Mic check. Check 1, 2. Check, check.

The crowd was roaring and the stage was set as Death Cab for Cutie, a Washington-grown indie rock band, introduced themselves to Gonzaga students and Spokane-area residents at their April 24 concert in the McCarthey Athletic Center.

Death Cab for Cutie. Photo courtesy of the band.
Death Cab for Cutie. Photo courtesy of the band.
The Grammy Award-nominated band introduced themselves to the audience that packed almost every seat in the 6,000-seat facility. Fire-engine red lights flooded the stage. Purple lights emerged and soothed the rowdy crowd before yellow spotlights bathed the band and big booms roared from the speakers.

Lead singer Ben Gibbard kept the crowd entertained throughout the show, sharing funny anecdotes about Washington, Gonzaga and his lifelong dream to get an honorary doctorate in math, anthropology or any other discipline in which he was clueless.

After the band played its set, which included some of their most popular ballads and melodies, the crowd’s applause drove Death Cab for Cutie back onto the stage for an encore. They ended their lively concert with one of their most popular songs, “Transatlanticism.” The crowd swayed together as Gibbard’s voice echoed “I need you so much closer,” the six most identifiable words of this song.

As the song came to a close and the spotlights began to fade, the crowd let out one final roar of appreciation for being “so much closer” to Death Cab for Cutie, albeit for a few hours.

The McCarthey Athletic Center has hosted other acts over the past five years, including the band Switchfoot, and comedians Bill Cosby and Jeff Foxworthy.



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