Mr. Katie and I went to see Death Cab for Cutie at the Mann Center for the Performing Arts in Philadelphia on Friday, July 17, 2026.
This is the 3rd show that I have been to since the summer concert season has started. You could say that going to concerts has been my mid-life coping mechanism as of late.
Last summer, Mr. Katie and I went to our first concert (outside of seeing children’s musician Laurie Berkner who was great by the way) since Mr. Man was born in 2015. You could say that going to that going to that Avett Brothers show in Bethlehem, PA last summer woke something asleep inside of me. When I started to get information this past winter about summer concerts, I made sure to sign up for pre-sale verification alerts so that I could buy tickets as soon as they became available.
I bought tickets for this Death Cab for Cutie (DCFC) show on January 28th when summer was something that seemed like a dream far into the future.
This is the 2nd time that I saw Death Cab live. Mr. Katie introduced me to DCFC by making me a mixed tape for Valentine’s Day in 2009. Then we decided to get tickets, and we saw them play at the Tower Theater in Upper Darby, PA (now closed) in April 2009 where they kicked off their US tour that year.
We also saw DCFC frontman Ben Gibbard’s side project, The Postal Service play at the Mann Center in Philadelphia in June 2013. The Postal Service only recorded one album called Give Up and we went to the 10-year anniversary tour of its release. It was a great show and not nearly as hard to get tickets for that show as it was to get tickets to the 20th anniversary tour which was held in 2023.
I digress but I haven’t really been keeping up with listening to DCFC’s albums since Codes and Keys in 2011. I do listen to the radio though and know some of their songs that have had radio play since then.
So Here Are My Thoughts on Friday Night’s Concert:
-First, I love the Mann Center for the Performing Arts as a music venue. It is in Fairmount Park in Philadelphia, which is the largest and oldest municipal park in Philadelphia. At times during the concert, my seat vibrated with the sound. The acoustics are very good there. We sat under the covered pavilion in row CC in the main section but not in the pitt. We could see the stage and well enough and the video screens.
Here is what our view looked like:
–The smoke from the wildfires in further north was noticeable in Philadelphia and before the concert there were some official statements regarding the fact that everyone involved was considering if the show should go on but ultimately, they decided to hold the show (obviously). I did not think that the smoke was as bad as it could have been compared to the previous day. There was less humidity compared to Thursday so to me the air felt less stifling. There were some people wearing masks at the show which is a valid choice.
-Here is a link to the setlist for the evening.
-The setlist at the show was structured so that the band played more of their recent hits earlier in the show and went back to songs from Codes and Keys, Narrow Stairs, Plans, and Transatlanticism later in the show.
-Some standout songs in the setlist for me where: “Crooked Teeth”, “Grapevine Fires”, “Cath”, “You Are a Tourist”, “No Sunlight”, “I Will Follow You Into the Dark” (where Ben encouraged the audience to sing the chorus), “I Will Possess Your Heart”, “Different Names for the Same Thing” and the final song of the encore “Transatlanticism”
-We were a little late getting to the show and thus only saw the very ending of the set by opening act Japanese Breakfast. I read Michelle Zauner’s book Crying in H Mart and I was curious about seeing Japanese Breakfast, but the evening was not marred for me by missing that part of the show. I noticed that she looked very pregnant.
-We parked in the upper parking lot of the Mann Center and got soft serve ice cream from a vendor in the parking lot while walking back to our car. That really topped off a great evening!
Anyway, it was a great show, and I am glad that me made the journey to Philadelphia.
Thanks to my sister Liz for babysitting!
PS: Regarding the bathroom lines, after the concert the bathroom lines were much longer for the women’s side than the men’s bathroom. Compare this to the Wilco concert that we went to in June where the men’s side was much, much longer. Are Death Cab more of a ladies’ band?
