Am I sorry that I missed the National playing Berlin at the Magnet Club back in May. Boxer would’ve just been released, and the songs would’ve been fresh for the audience and the band wouldn’t have played the set a million times in front of a crowd already.
The National put up a great show and a stellar performance last night. Many of the songs, new or old, were amazing to be experienced live. I was especially impressed by the drumming Bryan Devendorf, but these are all very fine musicians. During bridges when Matt Berninger was not singing he would often just turn his back to the audience and let his band members take over. The audience was enthusiastic and responsive, the applause was thunderous. I couldn’t help but feeling somehow disoriented, however. Something seemed to be missing…what was it?
Boxer is my first album from The National and it blows me away. It’s full of vivid imagery with a sense of resigned urgency and compelling understatement, both lyrically and musically. That resignation and understatement is unfortunate hard to deliver in a live setting, when playing in front of a crowd that more often than not demands to be entertained. Last night’s show was passionate, but the intensity was not felt. It was an intimate atmosphere, but I felt removed. During the prelude of Squalor Victoria, Berninger initiated the audience to clap along to the drumbeat, which I found rather distracting. Perhaps I was just being selfish: it being my favorite song from Boxer – or even of 2007! – and the drumming being so essential to the song, I didn’t want that adulterated by the joyous, perfunctory clapping that didn’t add anything to the song; if anything, it wore off the enigma somewhat (what do you think it’s about? Failed relationship? The war in Iraq? The Bush Administration? None of the above?) However, I loved it when the audience sang along during quieter moments of Ada, Racing like a Pro or Fake Empire: it was not the obnoxious, I-know-all-the-lyrics-and-I-singth-better-than-thou kind of roar, but a very subdued, whispering chant that was very endearing and indicative of the full attention of the sing-alongers. There was a guy that kept yelling “Lucky You” in between songs, and the band indeed came back for the Encore with the requested song, which, as the set list shows, had not been planned originally.
All in all, The National really rocked and dazzled last night. The problem was me: I wanted to be “moved” more than to be “rocked”. And when it comes to the brilliant Boxer, what with its quaint, nostalgic black and white photograph on the cover, I prefer a shimmer to the dazzle.
Hayden opening for The National
Squalor Victoria
The Geese of Beverly Road
Apartment Story
Daughters of the SoHo Riots
Fake Empire
Check The National out:
07 DEC: ISTANBUL, Turkey
09 DEC: MOSCOW, Russia
15 JAN 2008: AUCKLAND, New Zealand
17 JAN 2008: BRISBANE, Australia
18 JAN 2008: MELBOURNE, Australia
19 JAN 2008: MELBOURNE, Australia
21 JAN 2008: SYDNEY, Australia
22 JAN 2008: SYDNEY, Australia
23 JAN 2008: SYDNEY, Australia
