Review: Death Cab For Cutie At The TLA

By Michael Cerio

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- The most impressive encore of Made In America weekend belonged to Death Cab For Cutie.

After being a part of Saturday's lineup on the Parkway for the Budweiser festival, the Seattle band played a much smaller, but very sold out show at 11 p.m. on Sunday to close out the weekend.

Whatever you imagine a sold out show to look like, double it. The TLA on South Street was pushed tight together, shoulder to shoulder from the stage back into the lobby. The upstairs balconies were stacked three deep, just trying to get a glimpse beyond the TV monitors. They all erupted as singer Ben Gibbard, without pandering proclaimed Philadelphia the "best [****] city on the east coast."

The show gave Gibbard and Death Cab a chance to expand upon their Made In America set from the day before. Favorites like "I Will Follow You Into The Dark" and "Title And Registration" showed up in the expanded set, as Gibbard bounced back and forth, right to left, always in perpetual motion. The enthusiasm was also expanded from the fans who crowded the Parkway the day before. This group was exclusively here for Death Cab For Cutie as the main event and not as a Beyonce bonus band.

From the stage, Gibbard did mention that this was "an after-party for the Made In America festival," which was greeted with more boos or apathy then applause. He laughed as he thanked all of their "opening acts" from the past two days, as this "little band from Seattle" was the headliner.