Ben Gibbard at Town Hall

Earlier this month I got to check out another one of New York’s fine concert halls! This time, we went to Ben Gibbard at Town Hall. Something I like to do when visiting new places in the city is to go in with “blind eyes”. That is, I don’t like researching the area or sites too much before visiting so I can really appreciate and experience the space for what it is before getting a back story. It’s always so fun to find out more about a place for me too after I’ve actually been there.

Town Hall is located right outside of Times Square so I wasn’t quite sure what to expect, but was pleasantly surprised with a small, intimate classic venue. Come to find out, the theatre has 80 years of rich history that began with suffragists taking the stage in support of passing the 19th amendment (which is interesting since we were there the Monday before Election Day). After the amendment was passed the stage would later present expressions of freedom of speech, lecture series, Children’s shows and notable performances from Bob Dylan, Jane Fonda, Billie Holiday, and The Indigo Girls to name a few.

I bought the tickets several months prior and was pretty excited that I scored Orchestra tickets, especially after being so far up at the Beacon Theatre . If you don’t know, Ben Gibbard is the lead singer in the band Death Cab for Cutie, who we previously saw in April. When I bought the tickets, I didn’t realize just how close we really would be. The venue has a very intimate performance appeal with seats for only 1,500. In the 7th row, we were probably 20 feet from the stage, it was unreal! 

After the show, I felt like Ben and I were on first name basis that’s how close we were! It was a really great low-key show too since it was the kick-off of his solo tour. Definitely a little different than the 9 piece orchestra and band that were at the April show (which was also fantastic). I’m so glad that we were able to experience both shows and would recommend Town Hall as a venue, especially if you can score seats in the orchestra section!