Colin Meloy from The Decemberists and Ben Gibbard from Death Cab for Cutie. The two bands will play the Paramount June 9.
Colin Meloy from The Decemberists and Ben Gibbard from Death Cab for Cutie. The two bands will play the Paramount June 9. Lawrence K. Ho via Getty Images

Ben Gibbard is at it again! Back in March, the Death Cab for Cutie frontman and former Postal Service singer organized a benefit concert for Standing Rock, where he was joined by Seattle-based author and poet Sherman Alexie along with soul singer Naomi Wachira in a rare solo performance. This time around, it’s a veritable PNW indie-folk dream team as Death Cab for Cutie teams up with The Decemberists to play an all-acoustic benefit show for the ACLU and Planned Parenthood.

The show is set for June 9 and tickets go on sale this Friday. Seattle singer/songwriter Sera Cahoone will open the show with her distinctive alt-country style. As for the Decemberists, the Portland-based band just announced their first new release since 2015—it’s called Queen of Hearts (Nonesuch, July 7), and is the resultant fruits from a collaborative project with English singer-songwriter Olivia Chaney called Offa Rex.

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Here’s lead singer Colin Meloy’s statement about why they’re playing at the benefit show:

There are enough stories from this last week alone — the Trump administration’s attempts to curtail first amendment protections and the GOP’s passage of the heartless AHCA — to remind us that organizations like Planned Parenthood and the ACLU need our support now more than ever.

He’s not exaggerating: the American Health Care Act, which is on its way to Senate, promises to slash federal funding for Planned Parenthood, and the lawyers at the ACLU certainly have their hands full with arguing in court against the Muslim Ban and the new anti-sanctuary law that’s popped up in Texas.

Gibbard echoed these sentiments in his own statement as well: “We at Death Cab for Cutie are appalled by the divisive, xenophobic and misogynistic agenda the Trump Administration is attempting to implement in our country.”