Concertwire.com

When the concept of taking Death Cab for Cutie on tour with an orchestra first entered the blog-o-sphere, the idea was closer to a far-off fantasy than feasible possibility.  After featuring string accompaniment on "Codes and Keys," playing a set of live dates that recreate the studio versions has been an aspiration since the album was released.

“It would be really fun to take Magik*Magik Orchestra out,” Death Cab’s Chris Walla told Billboard last summer. “But unfortunately, it is kind of a nightmare to try and figure it out.”

The guitarist/producer went on to explain that although the logistics would be difficult, the band couldn’t seem to shake the urge to tour with the eight-piece string outfit.

The opportunity has finally rolled around. The DCfC recently announced a string of tour dates with Magik*Magik, and it seems certain that even old fans will find the tour new and imaginative.  Frontman Ben Gibbard announced via Twitter that he was excited for the tour, and that audiences could expect “older tunes never played live,” “recent stuff,” and universally “killer arrangements.”

Gibbard has every reason to look forward to the tour; Death Cab has been touring for over a decade, but this will be their first string of dates with orchestra accompaniment.  It can only be described as a milestone, particularly for someone who takes music as seriously as Gibbard does.

“An ex-girlfriend once got upset when I told her that music is the most important thing in my life,” Gibbard once wrote in a piece for Paste Magazine. “But people in your life come and go. As you go through your life, you make friendships, you break friendships, you have relationships. Music is the one thing I’ve always been able to rely on. So why wouldn’t it be the most important thing in my life?”

Don’t miss what the group describes as a “one-of-a-kind spring trek” when the tour appears at the Louisville Palace on April 13 and the Tennessee Theatre on May 1.