The lights dimmed, bodies rose, and a roar of screams echoed throughout Centennial Hall last night when Franz Ferdinand stepped onstage before a sold-out auditorium.

Although the band captivated an audience of thousands, it was just a preview of what was to come.

Along with the internationally renowned Scottish supergroup, Death Cab For Cutie also graced the Centennial Hall stage last night. For the first time in recent years, this combination of Indie rock stars proved to be a true testament to what UA students really want to see.

Seattle’s Death Cab For Cutie may not have an acclaimed Scottish Mercury Prize like Franz Ferdinand, but the band definitely seemed to be the

reason most people bought tickets to the show.

“”I came for Death Cab,”” said Allen Menasco, a media arts sophomore. “”It would be my dream if they played the song ‘405.’ I would run up and down the aisles and the street.””

That same kind of energy was bursting from the auditorium when the foursome took the stage. The screams that had roared for Franz Ferdinand seemed like a kitten’s meow compared to the noise level made for Death Cab.

Surrounded by 20-foot-tall giant white tree silhouettes and mini fairy tale white houses built onto the set, the band burst into hit after hit before a constantly swaying audience.

The musical highlight of the show came when stagehands set up a smaller drum-set in the center of the stage so that Gibbard and drummer Nathan Good could simultaneously bang out drum solos.

“”They have a unique style,”” said Daniel Kirby, an astronomy sophomore. “”Especially on the new CD, they do a lot of style changes from song to song.””

Franz Ferdinand, though not the headliner, brought a more energetic partying element to the night.

“”They’re really dynamic,”” said undeclared freshman Adriana Zwanck. “”They give you life.””

With half of the band wearing black and white striped shirts like prison inmates, they staggered around the stage like genuine rock stars.

During Ferdinand’s finale, three people gathered around the drum set, banging louder and louder until it sounded like a tribal band. When the noise level nearly reached its max, the guitars slammed into a blistering rendition of “”This Fire”” to end the show.

“”The drum solo was really cool,”” said Krystina Lee, a veterinary sciences sophomore. “”They have a lot of energy.””

The Cribs, an up-and-coming rock band from Wakefield, England, started off the show with a dynamic, yet truly punk rock set. The microphones squealed as they tried to talk into them, effectively covering up their strong accents.

Although the audience didn’t know all of the songs, they tapped their feet and even clapped along to some selections of the Cribs’ set.