Ben Gibbard doesn’t need an introduction. But of course at first thought there are a few key words that come to mind: Death Cab for Cutie, The Postal Service, the once-husband of Zooey Deschanel, solo artist, Seattle-based. There’s nobody quite like Ben Gibbard, who is the epitome of an introspective musician who makes absolutely beautiful songs. His success with Death Cab (songs like “Transatlanticism” and “Passenger Seat”) and also with The Postal Service (songs like “Such Great Heights” and “The District Sleeps Alone Tonight”) made everyone fall in love with this indie frontman, and that admiration only continued as he ventured solo and released Home Volume V in 2003 and Former Lives in 2012.
His music makes you feel and he makes you feel hard. Whether on the sunny side or he’s leaning towards something a bit more somber (that feels like the perfect anthem to a grey and foggy day in his hometown Seattle), his music always finds a way to perfectly suit your mood. His music is love-drenched no matter what, telling these poetic stories that always seem to bring you back to a moment in time, and whether instrumentally or lyrically are always so him.
In 2009 Ben Gibbard collaborated with Jay Farrar of the band Son Volt and released an album whose lyrics are based on Jack Kerouac’s novel Big Sur. He also contributed to the soundtrack of About a Boy, one of the best documentaries about Kurt Cobain ever made. So when it comes to music, he’s doing it and he’s doing it all, and when it comes to his solo show at Town Hall (no matter what songs he chooses to play) it will be an achingly beautiful performance that you won’t be able to stop talking about.
Town Hall
7/27
w/ Jon Glaser
9 p.m.
$35+
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