Such Great Heights: The Postal Service in Concert

A couple of weekends ago as a belated anniversary date night out, my hubby and I went to dinner, then saw The Postal Service in concert at the Open Air Theatre, on the campus of San Diego State University.  Before we met, both my husband and I coincidentally bought the Give Up album separately back in 2003.  If you are unfamiliar with the band, The Postal Service is vocalist Ben Gibbard of Death Cab for Cutie, producer Jimmy Tamborello of Dntel and Headset, Jenny Lewis of Rilo Kiley and indie rock musician, Jen Wood.  For this tour, they are joined by Laura Burhenn instead of Jen Wood.  Give Up is one of my favorite albums, and I was lucky that tickets were still available for the tour celebrating the 10th anniversary of the album’s release.

There were two opening acts:  Baths and Big Freedia.  Baths was first, and I found their sound very compatible with The Postal Service, so it made sense that they would be an opener.  A spectacular surprise was Big Freedia, the queen diva extraordinaire from New Orleans.  If Hollywood from the movie Mannequin and Lafayette of True Blood had melded together in some alternate universe, you would have Big Freedia.  I loved her set, but I’m certain she surprised many a Postal Service fan because I suspect many of them didn’t expect to see and hear bumpin’-booty-shakin’-bounce-hip hop.  The crowd reaction was mostly positive, although a group behind us was really taken aback and one of them kept proclaiming how offended she was.  I found Big Freedia and her twerkin’ lovelies fun and entertaining, and I wasn’t lying when I told her crew who interviewed me for a documentary that I would definitely grab a CD or two after the show.  I’ll be sure to post it here if I make the final cut!

The Postal Service took the stage right around 8:30pm, and they did not disappoint.  I want to say they sounded just like their album, but they actually sounded better.  They performed all the songs from the Give Up album, plus four additional tracks and two covers (set list below).  The stage lighting was dynamic, yet simple and beautiful, allowing the music to be the focus.  We didn’t stay for the entire concert, missing the encore.  Being that we didn’t take the following Monday off, we wanted to beat the traffic and get home to rest.  We both were happy to hear the songs we wanted (“Nothing Better“, “Sleeping In” and “Such Great Heights“), so we didn’t mind if we missed a couple of songs.  It still made for a very nice evening out.  Hope you had a great weekend!

The original CD, purchased back in 2003 (this one is mine, we can’t find my hubby’s CD).  There is a special 10th anniversary reissue available from Sub Pop with extra tracks.

This is what happens when you wait until the last-minute to get tickets…

Baths

A shot of my outfit, which turned out to be perfect for an evening outdoor concert.

Hell-to-the-yeah: BIG FREEDIA IN THE HOUSE!

The Postal Service

The shirt my hubby got (I just got the simple black tour tee with the dates).  The front says “Side A” and the back says “Side B”. Clever!  Now I want the tote bag that has the same images.