Recent activity

1. Added to npjones's gigography. 10 days ago
2. The setlist for The National was added by Gumgum2804. 16 days ago
3. Added to stereodee101's gigography. 29 days ago
4. A review with was added by Gumgum2804. about 1 month ago

   "New York’s The National have been making fine music since 1999 but I have to admit to coming to the party late, only becoming aware of them after the release of their third album ‘Alligator’ and this was the first time I’d ever seen them live.

   Considering the kind of emotive music that the band make it was a surprise to see the six unassuming men dressed in plaid shirts amble onto the stage, lead singer Matt Berninger cutting a tall figure as they kicked off with the slow burning ‘Start a War’ from this year’s incredible ‘Boxer’ album.

   It was during the opening bars of the second track ‘Mistaken for Strangers’ that the silly grin appeared on my face, you know that grin you get when you realise that greatness is being bestowed on you, the type of grin that only shows it face when something you’ve anticipated for ages turns out to be better than you could ever have expected. The set is made up of the majority of ‘Boxer’ with the best bits from ‘Alligator’ and ‘Secret Meeting’ is met by yelps of appreciation from the crowd who, almost to a person know every word to every song and totally adore the band.

   On record the musical focus leans towards Berninger’s gorgeously morose vocals but live each member of the band comes together to create a patchwork quilt of sound that warmly envelopes you, none more so than on the heartbreakingly beautiful ‘Slow Show’ the exquisite ‘All The Wine’ and even on the rockier tracks like ‘Abel’ and ‘Brainy’ they never lose the dense richness of their sound. It’s fascinating too, to watch the band as they flit between instruments, swapping guitars, Bass, keyboards and violin between themselves, sometimes mid song.

   The gaps between the songs are filled with shouted requests for different songs but the biggest cheer of the night is reserved for the only older track of the ‘Lucky You’, ironically introduced by Berninger as “a song that no-one ever asks for”. My favourite track ‘Fake Empire’ closes the set, the horns from the recorded version here replaced by a crescendo of guitar and violin.

   A short encore follows taking in ‘Green Gloves’ and the alt-rock majesty of ‘Mr November’ where Berninger finally lets loose, screaming the chorus out and teaching bands like The Killers a thing or two about how to structure wordy songs.

   Throughout the night it’s easy to pick up the bands influences, from The Tindersticks to early R.E.M. to Tom Waits and Lou Reed but that’s not to say that The National are unoriginal, in fact quite the opposite is true as they manage to produced beautifully honest music with a heart and soul all of it’s own. The National really are a sparkling gem of a band."

5. Gumgum2804 and Stewrat added this to their gigographies. about 1 month ago