Deck the Hall Ball 2011

Wednesday night, Keenan, our friend, Brooke, and I headed to Seattle’s Queen Anne district to attend 107.7 The End’s Deck the Hall Ball 2011 concert!

If you’re into indie rock at all, you’ll agree that the line-up was incredible: Grouplove, Two Door Cinema Club, Young the Giant, Foster the People, Cage the Elephant, Death Cab for Cutie, and Mumford & Sons.

Unfortunately, we missed the opening band, Grouplove, because we arrived late.  The three of us saw them a couple of months ago in Portland, and I was really looking forward to seeing them again.  Luckily, the rest of the show was worth it.

We walked into Key Arena around 4:30, in the middle of Two Door Cinema Club‘s set.  They were great, but I didn’t get any pictures at that point. 

Next up was Young the Giant.  I only know their songs that are on the radio, My Body and Cough Syrup, but they really impressed me.  The lead singer had an incredible voice, and their music was awesome.  I’m a fan.

Foster the People really stole the show.  Mark Foster put on an incredible performance, and really captured the audience.

The band has really had a crazy couple of years, what with the viral success of Pumped Up Kicks.  Got to say, I got most excited when they played Helena Beat.  Oh, and Mark Foster climbing up on the speaker box was pretty sweet as well!

After Foster, I went upstairs to meet up with a couple of friends, Shauna from Life.Love. and Lindsey.  I hadn’t seen them since we graduated from high school, so it was great to meet up and chat for a while!

I missed a bit of Cage the Elephant‘s performance while talking to the girls, but enjoyed them nonetheless. Their lead singer, Matthew Schulz reminded me quite a bit of Kurt Cobain of Nirvana.  No surprise, since one of their hit songs is called, Aberdeen, a reference to Cobain’s hometown.

I definitely enjoyed their performances of Shake Me Down and Ain’t No Rest For the Wicked.

Next up was one of my favorite bands for the past eight years, Death Cab for Cutie!  I couldn’t have been more excited to see them.  Frontman, Ben Gibbard, is actually from my hometown, Bremerton, Washington, and attended my rival high school!  Strangely, I didn’t learn this fact until after I had already gotten into the band.

I was thrilled when they opened with a couple of their older songs, from what I consider their best album, Transatlanticism.  I bought that album when I was 16 and have overplayed it ever since.

They completely rocked my face off!  They played a great mix of their older and newer stuff.  I would have been so disappointed if I’d finally gotten to see them live, and they’d only played off of their newer albums. 

I couldn’t help but wonder, though, if Ben Gibbard’s beard is a post-divorce from Zooey Deschanel act of rebellion, or what?  Either way, I must say it does a great job of covering up his face to make him more attractive.  Sorry, Ben!

The final act of the night was Mumford & Sons. 

They played a good set, but honestly, by that time I was really starting to get tired, and didn’t get as much out of it as I could have.  I also think that they would have done better to have Death Cab as the closing act.  Death Cab has been bigger, for a longer amount of time, not to mention the fact that the band hails from Seattle.  It only seems right. 

All in all, I had an amazing time!  It was an incredible experience to see so many great artists all in one show!  I really formed a newfound appreciation for Young the Giant and Foster the People after this performance.  Seeing bands live can really impact my impression of them.  I’m really thankful to Brooke for getting us tickets.  It was an incredible gift that I won’t soon forget.

Any indie music fans in the house?  Has anyone been to any concerts recently?

Have a good one!

<3 Lindsay