20 years ago, Death Cab for Cutie played their first-ever live show, and the world was forever changed. When you think about about all that this band has done – achieving both great indie and mainstream successes, playing The Bait Shop on The O.C., solving several high-profile haunted amusement park mysteries, defeating Calamity Ganon thus restoring peace to Hyrule – it’s quite staggering.
But now, the Death Cab arc comes full circle, with the special release of audio from that first-ever live show 20 years ago. Titled First Show, Acoustic at The Pacer House, Bellingham WA. 11/22/97, this #rare, never-before-heard audio was recorded via dictaphone at (fittingly enough) The Pacer House in Bellingham, WA on November 22, 1997.
Commenting on the release, head cutie Ben Gibbard said, “This is a recording of the first ever Death Cab for Cutie show. It was made by our friend Trevor Adams on his dictaphone at The Pacer House in Bellingham, Washington on November 22, 1997. Sprawled across couches and sitting cross-legged on the floor were 25 of our closest friends and fellow musicians. Everyone played acoustic or semi-acoustic with no PA. Trevor made and passed bowl after bowl of microwave popcorn because he was (and I assume still is) a great host.”
And folks, play close enough attention, and you’ll swear you can smell that microwave popcorn.
First Show, Acoustic at The Pacer House, Bellingham WA. 11/22/97 can be acquired now via Death Cab for Cutie’s Bandcamp page. Downloads begin at four dollars, with a portion of all the proceeds going to The Aurora Commons, a Seattle-based non-profit. Seth Cohen wishes he were a real person right now, just so he could hear this stuff.
First Show, Acoustic at The Pacer House, Bellingham WA. 11/22/97 tracklisting (ready?):
01. First Show, Acoustic at The Pacer House, Bellingham WA. 11/22/97