Death Cab For A Cutie & Japanese Breakfast
July 19, 2026
RBC Amphitheatre, Toronto, ON
Last Sunday night, the immeasurably influential and beloved Death Cab for Cutie brought their new record I Built You A Tower to RBC Amphitheatre in Toronto. Opening the show was Japanese Breakfast, who were returning to Toronto after two Massey Hall headline shows last year. Both sets waxed and waned between delicate vocals and screeching distortion with guitars raised. The weather was perfect, lineup was perfect, and the audience responded accordingly.
Japanese Breakfast took the stage just as the sun was starting to set. Their instrumental track “Planetary Ambience” played over the PA as the band walked on waving. Michelle Zauner came on last grinning from ear to ear and showing her baby bump. Zauner had just announced her pregnancy last month with her husband and bandmate Peter Bradley, and fans have been overjoyed both online and from the crowd, RBC Amphitheatre being no different.
Japanese Breakfast kicked the night off with “Paprika,” the first track of their 2021 record Jubilee. Zauner had a full-size gong on stage adorned with flowers, which she would strike throughout the song at the turn of every key phrase. Zauner sang “it’s a rush” as Adam Schatz followed her with the triumphant saxophone melody each time.
As the song finished, drummer CJ Hendrix’s snare shot slammed the door on the joy of “Paprika” and ushered in dreary and forlorn “Honey Water.” Zauner makes full use of her Jazzmaster in sinking down the tremolo and leaning on her pedals in her platform shoes. She ended the song raising her guitar above her head and pointing it directly at her amp to stir up a wave of feedback. Japanese Breakfast’s set continued on with this pattern of collectively swaying from one emotion to the next, and taking the audience with them. Hearing “Kokomo, IN” at golden hour was everything one needed it to be, as well as getting treated to deep cuts like “Boyish.” The set acted as both the perfect introduction to Japanese Breakfast and gift for long-time fans.
As stage lights turned low for Death Cab for Cutie, the light of the sky was not quite gone yet, there was just a little bit of gentle dark blue piercing through the window frames to the sides of the stage. Death Cab took the stage and kicked off their set with the steady drum beat and staccato guitar plucking of “Riptides” – the lead single off their new record I Built You A Tower. The crowd’s love for the album was made clear throughout the night in the way they knew the words and moved to the rhythm as though they were old songs.
There were so many other potent moments of the set. The silence in the venue between verses as the crowd sang the outro to “Black Sun” by themselves, Gibbard wiping his eyes and face after singing the words “love is watching someone die” in “What Sarah Said”, the band making the audience wait patiently before delivering the bass line of “I Will Possess Your Heart”. These songs are woven deep into the identity of the band and the fans alike.
During “The New Year,” frontman Ben Gibbard began to use the full span of the stage as he moved from end to end and leaned into his chords, and maintained that throughout the set. Death Cab for Cutie are a band who truly plays their songs together, running over to each other and feeding off one another’s energy. Their bassist Nick Harmer would continually turn around to face their drummer Jason McGerr as though they were playing for themselves, and we were just lucky enough to be walking in on a practise.
The final song of the night was “Transatlanticism,” Gibbard moved to the very edge of the stage and sang of how the Atlantic was born, gesturing out to the crowd as though it really had just happened that day. Dave Depper played the unmistakable guitar line which kept repeating as the band built onto it from there. Gibbard and the crowd sang “so come on” over and over. It was a beautiful ending to the night and it only could’ve been brought about by Death Cab for Cutie and a venue full of their fans.
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