I think the O.C. has really changed Death Cab For Cutie's fanbase. Surveying the audience while waiting for more than an hour outside the venue before their Toronto appearance at Kool Haus on October 15th, I noticed a pleather of Chanel and Louis Vuitton handbags present. It seems that people were coming to be seen and the music was secondary (the audience was ultra-loud during both Youth Group and DCFC's sets). Back to the line. The line streched around the entire venue almost an hour before the show. Scalpers (damn you all) were asking $200 a ticket, and one middle-aged mother was willing to trade two Gold Leaf tickets for two DCFC tickets. Kudos to the promoter of the show for releasing 50 tickets at the door, it forced the prices of the tickets on the street way down (I heard one person say that they got two for $160). Inside the venue, the bars were completely empty (the show was attended by masses of underagers), while the merch both was the place to be. Youth Group opened the show and played a strong set featuring songs from their Epitaph debut Skeleton Jar. Alas, they did not play their incredible cover of Forever Young.
DCFC hit the stage to a thunderous applause, and quickly launched into Marching Bands Of Manhattan, which sounds 400 times better live than on CD. Ben Gibbard's voice was surprisingly strong considering that the Toronto date fell mid-tour. The setlist consisted of a wide mix of songs from this years Plans and 2003's Transatlanticism. Ben and Co. even played a couple ancient tracks dating as far back as their first cassette release. The show could have been better had they sequenced their songs in a smarter fashion, more weight on standout fan-favourites would have held the audience's attention (they didn't play some of my favourite tunes including Title Track, 405, and A Lack Of Colour. Chris Walla shined as he jumped from instrument to instrument, he doesn't seem to get the praise he deserves as a musician. Here is the setlist from the show:

Marching Bands Of Manhattan
The New Year
Why You'd Want To Live Here
Summer Skin
Soul Meets Body
Different Names For The Same Thing
What Sarah Said
Crooked Teeth
President of What?
Pictures In An Exhibition
The Sound Of Settling
We Looked Like Giants
Expo '86
Title and Registration
A Movie Script Ending
Photobooth

Encore:
I Will Follow You Into The Dark
Tiny Vessels>
Transatlanticism

Ben's solo performance of I Will Follow You Into The Dark was breath-taking, and the double hit of Tiny Vessels and Transatlanticism was an amazing way to end a near-perfect evening.

Check out Chart's two part interview with Mr. Gibbard here and here.
Read Eye Weekly's review of the show here.
Get Ben Rayner's take on the show here.