Death Cab brings new life to old gems

Thanks to The OC and two albums under Atlantic Records, Death Cab For Cutie can no longer bear the moniker of a true indie band. Formed in 1997 in Washington, the band enjoyed modest success and acclaim for its first five albums, buzzing through indie airwaves with bookish charm. But when Seth Cohen bemoaned over Summer Roberts to songs like "The Sound of Settling" and "Title and Registration," Death Cab emerged from the bars of Seattle to tour international theaters. Last Friday the humble quartet took the stage to a sold-out Agganis Arena at Boston University, a crowd teeming with everyone from giddy 14-year-olds to middle-aged attendees. In such a grand and commercial setting - the center of a hockey rink in front of almost 6,500 mainstream fans - the band struck hard by sticking to its indie roots and riffing through an hour and a half of energized professionalism.

After 40 minutes of fuzz from the opening act, the crowd grew eager for Death Cab. Brooklyn-based St. Vincent - a numb, washed-out, wannabe Yeah Yeah Yeahs - trudged through the opening set with half-assed atmospheric noise rock. But groggy opening acts always serve a higher purpose than to annoy the crowd: They get the crowd even more amped for the headliner. Once St. Vincent had screeched its final excuse for a melody, the people began to rattle the arena in anticipation. Ben Gibbard, Chris Walla, and the boys took the stage and immediately vibed off the energy with the soaring and rolling "New Year," a song from Transatlanticism, their last album on the indie label Barsuk Records. Immediately the crowd stood and swung along to Death Cab's croons of melodrama and comfortably melancholy reflection.

Though the band came to Agganis to tour its latest album Narrow Stairs - its highest-selling album to date - the band shirked most of the new songs, sticking to old favorites and even revitalizing some burrowed gems from its debut album Something About Airplanes (frontman Gibbard shamelessly plugged its reissue during the encore). But avoiding the new material actually kept the crowd inspired. Most of Narrow Stairs swims through dark and sluggish water, so Death Cab kept the arena alive with a healthy blend of its bopping pop standards - "Crooked Teeth," "Soul Meets Body," "Champagne from a Paper Cup" - and soothing cell-phone-waving tracks like "I Will Follow You into the Dark" and "A Movie Script Ending." Enhancing their smooth professionalism and unrelenting energy, the warm and sparkling light show helped the songs dance along the stage - from dashing white lights falling like raindrops to the flashing red velvet curtain behind.

In the encore, Death Cab for Cutie fused its indie roots with its mainstream glory with a spirited performance of "Transatlanticism." The eight-minute epic, set to a backdrop of uplifting, grandiose lights, and a teal glow warming the entire arena, exemplified the balls-out indie rock of drumstick-snapping angst. B