{"id":7067582,"date":"2026-09-26T16:01:12","date_gmt":"2026-09-26T16:01:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/peraltafinancing.com\/uncategorized\/victoria-warehouse-live-review\/"},"modified":"2026-09-26T16:01:12","modified_gmt":"2026-09-26T16:01:12","slug":"victoria-warehouse-live-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=7067582","title":{"rendered":"Victoria Warehouse \u2013 Live Review"},"content":{"rendered":"


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Death Cab for Cutie | Pool Kids<\/b>
Victoria Warehouse, Manchester
<\/strong>19th September 2026<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Manchester \u2022 Saturday 13 March 2027
The Wedding Present + more across Manchester Academy.<\/p>\n

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Seattle\u2019s stalwarts of indie rock make up for lost time at their first Manchester show in seven years<\/strong><\/p>\n

Ben Gibbard opens tonight\u2019s show with an apology. \u201cIt won\u2019t be seven years before we come back here again.\u201d Death Cab for Cutie last played Manchester in 2019, across town at the Albert Hall. Back then, they were still finding their feet as a new band, which sounds a strange thing to say about 20+-year veterans of the Pacific Northwest indie rock scene. The departure of guitarist and producer Chris Walla in 2014 left a huge void, and on 2018\u2019s Thank You for Today \u2013 the group\u2019s first album made entirely without him \u2013 you could hear them, creatively speaking, treading water.<\/p>\n

Since then, things have changed dramatically. Famed producer John Congleton has found a way to extract the best out of Death Cab, leading to two outstanding late-career records: 2023\u2019s Asphalt Meadows and, this past June, I Built You a Tower. Plus, this new live lineup has come together impressively to deliver the punchiest and most polished version of Death Cab ever to hit the stage, guitarist Dave Depper and keyboardist Zac Rae lending a subtlety and nuance to their sound that wasn\u2019t always there. They should have played across town at the Apollo in 2023 were it not for Gibbard losing his voice, and surprisingly left Manchester off the itinerary when touring their best-loved record, Transatlanticism, for its twentieth anniversary two years ago.<\/p>\n

\"Death<\/p>\n

All of which is to say that they have some lost time to make up for, after an enthralling opening set by Florida emo revivalists Pool Kids. They set about doing so in pointed fashion, rattling off new tracks, the nervy, taut Riptides opening the show. The new record can be seen as a loose concept record chronicling the collapse of Gibbard\u2019s second marriage and, presented live, you realise how far these fresh songs have him stepping out of his comfort zone. How Heavenly A State is a noisy, feedback-laden monster, possibly the heaviest track the band have ever recorded, whilst Punching The Flowers carries a spiky aggression that is by no means the band\u2019s stock in trade.<\/p>\n

And yet, there are still moments that feel like deliberate nods to the band\u2019s past; the lovely, looping guitar line on I Built You A Tower recalls their 2001 track Debate Exposes Doubt, a deep cut that Gibbard recently claimed, probably not coincidentally, is among their most underrated. Songs of that ilk from the back catalogue are well represented in what is a near-two-hour set; there are energetic, muscular takes on the classic likes of Company Calls and The New Year, affecting versions of the reflective likes of Black Sun and What Sarah Said, and a moving singalong to I Will Follow You Into The Dark, which Gibbard dedicates to The Stone Roses whilst describing Manchester as \u201cthe greatest music city in the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Death<\/p>\n

And, ultimately, it\u2019s the newer and more adventurous material that wins the day; there\u2019s a couple of Asphalt Meadows songs late in the set, a nice acknowledgement of the fact that the band never made it here on that tour, including Foxglove Through the Clearcut, an atmospheric maelstrom of a song that sees Gibbard go spoken-word. It\u2019s a testament to the fact that \u2013 despite almost three decades together as one of U.S. alternative\u2019s most storied bands \u2013 Death Cab are still finding ways to evolve.<\/p>\n

~<\/strong><\/b><\/p>\n

Death Cab for Cutie <\/strong>can be found at their\u00a0<\/b>Facebook<\/b><\/span><\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0<\/b>Instagram<\/b><\/span><\/a>\u00a0<\/b>|\u00a0website<\/a><\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

Words by\u00a0<\/b>Joe Goggins<\/b><\/span><\/a>: find him on X\u00a0<\/b>here<\/a><\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

Photos supplied, by Friswell Photograph \/ 3 Songs & Out<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

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