The Postal Service and Death Cab for Cutie Come Home

This weekend Climate Pledge Arena hosted a birthday party for the Postal Service and Death Cab for Cutie, who celebrated the 20th anniversaries of Give Up and Transatlanticism alongside thousands of elder millennials by playing both albums straight through on Friday and Saturday night. The mass nostalgia event prompted the children of the ’90s (and me, muahaha) to post gushing testimonials on social media, giving other generations the chance to live, however briefly, through the LiveJournal era. 

Joking aside, the show ruled. The bands looked happy and healthy, with frontman Ben Gibbard hopping and bopping all over the stage like a kid. (Online, representatives from Gen Z said Gibbard was entering his “zaddy” phase.) Drummer Jason McGerr practically rattled the whole arena as he beat the shit out of his kit during the big finale on “Transatlanticism.” Living seraph Jenny Lewis, better known as the frontwoman for Rilo Kiley, descended from some chill, powerful cloud to sing along with Gibbard on all the Postal Service songs. The band also invited Seattle performer Jen Wood, to sing her part on “Nothing Better.” 

New Zealand indie rockers the Beths, who Gibbard called “one of the best bands of their generation,” got everyone in the mood to rock and swoon in an arena that still pretty much feels like a big frigid airport.

The homecoming felt particularly special given the fact that Gibbard wrote the songs for both albums in an attic apartment on Capitol Hill, just a mile or so away from a venue the whole band would pack for two weekend nights. Read more about the sounds of Seattle on those records here, and relive (or live vicariously) the night through the photos below. 

 

 

 

 

 

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