Noise Pop 2011 Photos: Ben Gibbard and Zach Rogue @ Great American Music Hall

The party can’t go on forever. This year’s weeklong Noise Pop Festival went out with a bang, a sigh and swaying fans came to worship at the whim of Ben Gibbard last night. Headlining a rare solo show at a packed Great American Music Hall, the indie rock icon brought out the nostalgia and a little of the future of his band Death Cab for Cutie with tons of favorites and a teasers from the band’s newest and seventh record Codes and Keys, due in late May.

Zach Rogue of Oakland’s Rogue Wave graciously warmed up the quiet crowd, testing a few new songs and delivering a perfect acoustic version of “Publish my Love.” He even threw in a stripped down cover of Buddy Holly’s “Everyday” that was just downright pretty.

Anxiously, couples with hands clasped and oddly-large groups of men in plaid all stood in quiet reverence of Gibbard’s acoustic prose, some even announcing that they skipped church to make the Sunday night show. To honor the sacrifice, Gibbard played a generous track listing of well-known Death Cab and Postal Service anthems like “Cath” and “I Will Follow You Into the Dark.” He held his own between a guitar and a piano, but even the most satisfying solo shows call for a token special guest duet (no, it wasn’t Gibbard’s wife Zooey Deschanel, much to my dismay). That turned out to be Bob Mould, with whom Gibbard did a fresh and lightly rehearsed “If I Can’t Change Your Mind.” The crowd composed themselves and Gibbard carried on with the satisfied grin of someone who just played alongside their idol.

After a generous encore, Gibbard ended the night on a surefire note with “Brand New Colony” and though it has been nearly a decade since that song became synonymous with coffee shop ambience and college love, it can still draw any mixtape or show to a perfect close.

Text by Kelly Mendez

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View the discussion thread.

what a weak article. not just for gibbard but for zach rogue. two sentences? you could've taken out some of the superficial remarks you used to try to do gibbard justice, and replaced them with a little more effort. half-assed article. D-

By Lyla (not verified) on March 02, 2011

such a fabulous concert! gibbard was a genius as always... and people below stop being bullies- there's no link to the author's other work so clearly the article was outsourced and 7x7 didn't actually hire them. maybe they were given the review to help cover for someone who actually was qualified. so stop hating on 7x7 they're allowed a slip up every once in awhile.

By jenni (not verified) on March 02, 2011

This concert was amazing- I feel sorry for the people that missed it.

Obviously the article is lacking in more ways than one, but lets look on the bright side- a person that was obviously new to Ben Gibbard appears to be a fan now. I must disagree with 7x7 for publishing this article though. As an editor, I've read countless concert write ups, and for the level that 7x7 usually holds true to, this disappoints.

By Kate (not verified) on March 02, 2011

brand new colony synonymous with coffee shop ambience and college love? who is this person writing?? and did anyone else notice how ms. mendez only wrote about the commercial hits that were played? no mention of steadier footing, 405 or photobooth? where's the love for the classics? my guess is this writer wasn't even in college, or old enough to have the "coffee shop ambience and college love". sorry to hate on this kid, but the group I went to the show with and I saw this article and were outraged that a man we've worshiped since the late 90s was not given the respect to have someone who knows what the hell they're talking about write the article. ditto Jesse. fail on 7x7 for this author and article.

By Anonymous (not verified) on March 01, 2011

the anger got to me too. HIRE (not higher) REAL JOURNALISTS!!!

By Jesse Hayes (not verified) on February 28, 2011

Ha pretty ironic that you made a typo when you were trying to write typo, Zach. I'm sure your anger and frustration got the best of you. That's not nearly as big of a mistake as getting the last song wrong. I think everyone reading this article would cut Mendez some slack if the article was at least well written. 7x7 fail. Make sure you higher some real journalists next time to cover real musicians.

All hail Ben Gibbard!

By Jesse Hayes (not verified) on February 28, 2011

Agreed C- it was divine. And the person writing this, acting like they know something about Death Cab and Ben Gibbard is probably the last person that should have written this article. Get it together 7x7. Usually the reviews are spot on and have meaning. Did this person not stay for the whole concert or can they really not tell the difference between Such Great Heights and Brand New Colony. I'm sure this Kelly Mendez person read over her article so it's not a type.

For such a rare show, and for San Francisco being so lucky for this concert to have come to us, the "journalist" should have been a little more careful to not insult Mr. Gibbard by not being able to differentiate between the two songs.

By Zach (not verified) on February 28, 2011

Actually, Such Great Heights was only the last song in the regular set. The last song in the encore set was Brand New Colony. It was divine.

By C (not verified) on February 28, 2011