The Postal Service and Death Cab For Cutie cover Depeche Mode and embark on a joint anniversary tour

Death Cab For Cutie and the Postal Service kicked off their 20-year joint tour in Washington last night (September 5).

Ben Gibbard joined his two bands for the tour with Death Cab performing their 2003 album ‘Transatlanticism’ and The Postal Service’s ‘Give Up’ in full at The Anthem.

During their performance, Death Cab joined them as they covered the classic Depeche Mode hit “Enjoy The Silence” at the end of the concert. You can see the images below.

They also did two versions of “Great Heights”, the last during the encore, with Gibbard on acoustic guitar and Jenny Lewis.

The two concerts are part of their joint tour of the United States, which will continue in September and end at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles on October 13. You can buy your remaining tickets here.

The Postal Service, consisting of Gibbard, Jimmy Tamborello and Jenny Lewis, released their first and only album, Give Up, in 2003. In 2013 they reunited for an anniversary tour to mark the album’s tenth anniversary before being released again.

Gibbard spoke of the joint tour to NME earlier in the year: “You have to think about who you were 20 years ago to understand who you are today. I’m looking forward to it. There’s no skeletons on those records I can .” face to face.”

Recalling the influential synth-pop gem “Give Up,” NME also asked Gibbard if he felt at the time that he was making an important record that we’d still be talking about 20 years later.

“Of course not, but what if I said that,” he answers jokingly, “the press might hate me! It is very important to understand the context of the ’00s American indie rock.”

And he continues: “We were making this record before 2004, when indie rock really broke out. [en EE UU]. Death Cab was on cloud nine, having sold 40,000 records and played venues such as The Bowery Ballroom. We felt we had done it. When we did “Give Up,” it was a fun project, and I was really excited to put a record out on Sub Pop.

“The writer William Gibson was once talking about the Neuromancer trilogy, and was asked why these books mean so much to people. He said, ‘I think of my books as my children, who went out into the world and who had wonderful adventures.’ It took on a life of its own and I felt that I had little or nothing to do with it.

“I’ve gotten credit for cashing the royalty checks, but Jimmy and I didn’t feel the need to brag about it.