Death Cab for Cutie brings inspired, smart rock to Red Butte

DEATH CAB FOR CUTIE, ANDREW BIRD AND RA RA RIOT, Red Butte Garden Amphitheater, July 13

A trifecta of indie-music hotshots, led by Northwest darlings Death Cab for Cutie, roosted in the cozy environs of the Red Butte Garden Ampitheater Monday night and delivered a sonic reminder of how great smart, inspired rock can really be.

Death Cab showed that its early days of lo-fi, shoe-gazer delights played in smoky Bellingham, Wash., dive bars are well behind it as the band took the stage with the confidence and presence of a group that's come into its own.

Three songs into the set, front man Ben Gibbard stepped out from a purple-tinged bank of stage fog and cranked into the opening bars of "New Year"— the anthemic throw-down on the status quo off 2003's "Transatlanticsm" album.

The release vaulted the band into the consciousness of mainstream audiences with tracks appearing on multiple movie and TV soundtracks — though music fans in the know likely caught wind of Death Cab's debut full-length offering, "Something About Airplanes," in 1998.

With Gibbard on keyboards, guitarist Chris Walla broke out his vampire sound-effects kit and wailed into an extended-intro version of 2008's Grammy-nominated "I Will Possess Your Heart."

It's a song with a dark spirit that matched the mood of the capacity crowd, who seemed ready for night music as the sun disappeared in the west.

Death Cab played a fair collection from its six full-length albums and multiple EP's and singles. After about an hour of up-tempo highlights, the band slowed things down with "Grapevine Fires," from its latest "Narrow Stairs" record, and "My Mirror Speaks," from this spring's "Open Door" EP.

Things geared back up for the final tunes of the main set and encore, with title track "Transatlanticism" ringing the final vibe for the night.

Tuesday's show was a rare three-band offering at the garden's summer concert series, and openers Ra Ra Riot and Andrew Bird each played half-hour long sets in preparation for the headliners.

Andrew Bird's multi-instrumental madness wowed the crowd — especially his whirling red and white painted Leslie Cabinet effect (think two old-style phonographs, with the horns, spinning at high speed.)

Bird's whistling melancholia and honey-sweet voice belies the underpinning of his lyrics — a veritable verbal Rorschach blot.

Ra Ra Riot, out of Syracuse, N.Y., burst on the scene after big acclaim on the East coast and across the pond where the band has toured extensively.

The group is promoting its new album, "The Rhumb Line," which has met with overwhelming critical and audience acclaim.

e-mail: araymond@desnews.com