Postal 2 20th Anniversary

[Salomon Thoj]

TheU.S. Postal Inspection Service joined forces with the Federal Bureau of Investigation Special Agents and created the Amerithrax Task Force. The Amerithrax Task Force led a complex nine-year investigation and involved a slew of experts in microbiology and chemistry, as well as bio-weapons specialists working for the government, universities, and commercial laboratories. In all, the Task Force interviewed 10,000 witnesses spanning six continents, recovered over 6,000 pieces of possible evidence, issued 5,750 grand jury subpoenas, gathered 5,730 environmental samples from 60 locations, and scrutinized over 1,000 possible suspects. In 2010, the anthrax case was closed after it was concluded the anthrax mailer had killed himself in 2008.

At the time, even experts did not realize how spores were spreading through the postal facilities and how they escaped the envelopes in which the spores were placed. However, due to the investigation, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service developed initiatives enhancing mail screening to support USPS operations, improved intelligence gathering capabilities, and trained thousands of Postal Inspectors to ensure they are in constant state of readiness to respond to future incidents. The Inspection Service also encouraged the installation of Biohazard Detection Systems in every mail processing facility across the United States and its territories. Additionally, new investigative protocols and strategies were developed because of the anthrax cases.

The U.S. Postal Inspection Service honors and commemorates the lives of all those who passed away 20 years ago on the anniversary of the anthrax attacks. The Inspection Service is committed to protecting Postal Service employees, infrastructure, customers, and preserving the integrity of the U.S. Mail. We continue to adapt and evolve our technologies to support the USPS.

The Postal Service and Death Cab for Cutie have announced a co-headlining tour taking place next fall. The 2023 dates will celebrate the 20th anniversary of their respective 2003 records: Give Up and Transatlanticism. Bandleader Benjamin Gibbard will pull double-duty each night of the tour, as his bands perform the albums front-to-back. The trek also marks the first live performances from the Postal Service in a decade. Find the full tour schedule below and scroll down for a trailer video.

Give Up is the most recent studio album from the Postal Service, although the group did issue a soundtrack to the 2014 concert film, Everything Will Change, back in 2020. Death Cab for Cutie shared their latest LP, Asphalt Meadows, earlier this year. They are currently on tour behind the release.

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So, when Death Cab for Cutie and The Postal Service (two of my all-time favorite bands) announced a joint tour celebrating the 20th anniversaries of their seminal albums, my mind immediately started weighing the logistics of getting to the show. See, when the tour was announced in December 2022, there was exactly one show located in the central time zone: The Armory in Minneapolis on Sunday, Sept. 24 (they later added two shows in Chicago).

The thing about visiting other cities for cultural events is that you get to compare them to your home city. In this case, unfortunately, Milwaukee doesn't hold a candle to what Minneapolis has going for its downtown sports and entertainment district. The baseball stadium, basketball arena, football stadium and major concert venue are all in the downtown corridor, connected by a robust network of bike lanes, buses and a convenient light-rail line.

Milwaukee also doesn't have a venue that compares to the Armory. Built in 1936, it primarily served the Minnesota National Guard but also had other uses, including concerts, civic events and hosting the Minneapolis Lakers before the team moved to Los Angeles in 1960. It eventually lost its luster and became a parking garage in the mid-2000s. Then, in 2017, an investment group spruced it up again as an events-only mega-venue.

I did none of this research before I walked in the door, so I was pretty surprised by the sheer size of it. After getting through security, which functioned like the building had a military background, stairs take you directly into the rear of the space, opposite the stage. As I looked up at the high arched roof, my first thought was: Oh wow, this place is massive. Ben Gibbard, the mastermind behind this tour as lead man for both Death Cab and Postal, at one point called it "so cavernous and awesome."

The wide-open floor was completely packed before opener Warpaint began promptly at 7:30 p.m. Two building-length VIP levels flanked the sides, highlighted by frequent flashes of strobe lights carried by bottle servers, like they would in a Miami nightclub. Adjacent to the steps, a long merch table (with 19 shirt options) was surrounded by orderly chaos. We squeezed our way along the side wall to the middle of the crowd, a sold-out 8,400 capacity that definitely felt like more.

There's something really special about anniversary shows because you can almost guarantee most of the people in attendance are there to see a particular album that resonated with them in some way. This was evident from the get-go, as I and others around me sang the lyrics to some "deep cuts" like "The New Year," "Expo '86" and "We Looked Like Giants."

With "album in full" shows, you can also rely on the predictability of the setlist. In this case, there was a palpable build-up to the record's title track, a weighty eight-minute tear-jerker that includes a simple lyric I'm sure was a mainstay of AIM profiles everywhere: "I need you so much closer."

I felt like Gibbard, in a mood-setting all-black outfit, was trying too hard to make Transatlanticism work. Don't get me wrong, it was all good. But some of the songs are better left recorded.

After a tidy 47-minute Death Cab performance, Gibbard announced he'd be back in 15 minutes for the second portion of the show. He was right on, coming out in an all-white ensemble along with Postal Service bandmates Jimmy Tamborello and Jenny Lewis.

It may be the nature of Give Up's upbeat sound when compared to Transatlanticism, but Gibbard seemed like a different performer for the second act. His voice sounded stronger, and his presence was more energetic. He even hopped up on the drum kit at times to bang around and add more substance to the tracks.

The tone was set from the jump, almost by default, because the first two songs on the album are by far the most popular in its 20-year history. "The District Sleeps Alone Tonight" and "Such Great Heights" had the floor literally bouncing, which was a little scary until I remembered we were in a literal military shelter.

The energy kept going throughout, with peaks at sometimes unexpected moments. That included song No. 4 in the set, "Nothing Better," which prominently features Lewis's vocals. The crowd erupted every time she was featured, but especially for her solo in that duet.

Another standout moment was toward the end of the set, when Gibbard invited the arena to join in singing the outro to "Brand New Colony." You better believe I was belting out: "Everything will change, oooooh."

The final surprise was the encore, which wasn't a given considering we already got two headliners for the price of one. After an acoustic duet of "Such Great Heights" with Lewis (which I could've done without, honestly), Gibbard brought out his Death Cab bandmates to join Postal for a very well-done rendition of Depeche Mode's "Enjoy the Silence."

In the end, both sets equaled the length of an average show, wrapping up around 10:30 p.m. But I could've stood in that packed crowd until midnight (or later) listening to Gibbard and co. reprise the hits and rare cuts that helped catapult careers and impact the lives of so many, like me.

Death Cab for Cutie and The Postal Service have announced a co-headlining tour in celebration of the 20th anniversary of their respective 2003 albums, Transatlanticism and Give Up. Lead singer Ben Gibbard will perform double duty fronting both bands as they perform each album in its entirety.

Death Cab For Cutie released a new album, Asphalt Meadows, earlier this year. Give Up was the only studio LP ever released by The Postal Service. It was certified platinum in 2012, nearly ten years after its release.

The bands announced Thursday that they are extending their Give Up & Transatlanticism 20th anniversary tour with 16 new dates across North America, including shows in Atlanta, Nashville, Tennessee, St. Louis and Toronto. Opening for them will be the acclaimed indie-rock band Slow Pulp.

Ticket presales begin at 10 a.m. Wednesday, and fans can sign up for access at giveuptransatlanticismtour.com. Tickets go on sale to the general public at 10 a.m. Dec. 8. Prices have yet to be announced.

Released in February 2003, "Give Up" marked the debut and only studio effort to date of The Postal Service, an indie pop supergroup formed by Gibbard and musicians Jimmy Tamborello and Jenny Lewis. The indietronica album, which went on to sell 1 million copies, peaked at No. 3 on Billboard's Independent Albums chart and spent a total of 111 weeks on the roster.

Death Cab for Cutie's fourth album "Tranatlanticism," released in October 2003, signaled a mainstream breakthrough for the indie rock band. The album, which earned the group its first entry on the Billboard 200 chart, helped the band sign a major-label deal with Atlantic Records in 2005. Some of its songs were also featured on the popular teen drama "The O.C."

In a homecoming show for the ages, indie rock legends Death Cab for Cutie and The Postal Service shared twin billing, for two straight nights, at Climate Pledge Arena in celebration of the 20th anniversary of two iconic albums: Transatlanticism and Give Up. Both Ben Gibbard founded bands, whose roots run deep in the Pacific Northwest, have enjoyed sustained reverence over the years across a broad fanbase. Tonight was a celebration of two monumental successes.

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