by Brad Roberts
photos by Amanda Glover (unless otherwise noted)
What a great opportunity to contrast two distinct concert experiences with the same band. Over the last eight years I've really enjoyed every opportunity I've had to see the same band two nights in a row. It reveals more about the individual personalities of the band members, seeing the way their performances vary from one night to the next and how they interact with the other musicians and how their interact with the audience as well. I've had that chance with Arcade Fire, The New Pornographers, Fleet Foxes, even The Veils, and it's always payed off with new insights into the band. To see how they strive with their professionalism to makes each performance seem fresh and individual.
Now, with The National (above photo by Amanda Glover), it was accentuate by the fact that I think their newest album, Trouble Will Find Me, may be their very finest effort. This story actually begins a couple of months ago. After the relative disappointment of High Violet (though I've had friends seem aghast at that notion), I was not prepared to be so overwhelmed with the new album. Each song delivers mightily on the promise of their opening notes, building layer upon layer of densely textured guitars, brass, drums, piano and vocal harmonies, dominated by the grumpy, deadpan baritone of Matt Berninger singing stinging lyrics of often brutal honesty.
I got a ticket for their show at The Greek as soon as they went on sale and when the Hollywood Forever show was announced a little while later, I decided I had to go to that too. I was still vibrating from the Grizzly Bear show at Hollywood Forever Cemetery on Friday night as I climbed the hill to The Greek on Saturday, August 10, for The National. I knew that Daughter was also opening for them at The Cemetery on Sunday, so as I settled into my seat they were playing their final song. I soon realized I was going to be an outside observer at a show going on at a great distance from where I was sitting. This can be the nature of The Greek, but it only steeled my resolve to get to tomorrow night's concert early enough to get right up to the stage.
The National took the stage in a timely fashion and began with the first cut off the new album, "I Should Live In Salt" as fog and lights swept the stage shrouding it in mood and atmosphere. (photo at right by Brad Roberts) They dipped back and forth through their catalog of songs providing something for everyone.
This is a band that put the more in morose, they play to such a decidedly dour and dark perspective that is so clearly spoken that I find them oddly uplifting. At The Greek the song "Slipped" brought me to tears. The lyric: "I don't want you to grieve, but I want you to sympathize all right. I can't blame you for losing your mind for a little while, so did I" is both so general and yet so specific that it pierces one's emotions like a pin.
Even at the distance I was from the stage, the light show was so spectacular and impressive that I had to try to catch some shots of it. I knew that I wanted to be close enough on the following night to become totally immersed in it, knowing it would heighten the impact of the music. The songs from the new album were highlights for me, though Matt's voice showed signs of strain occasionally particularly on the one song I was the most anxious to hear live, "Pink Rabbits". All in all, I enjoyed the set, though it did seem like a warm-up for The National in The Cemetery on Sunday night.
Now that I was aware of the set up for music outdoors at Hollywood Forever Cemetery, I knew what to expect, and proceeded accordingly. I was way far back in the line when I got to corner of Santa Monica Boulevard and Gower around 6:45, but once the gates opened and we were admitted I was pleased to see that I could still just walk right up to the stage and position myself near the center and about nine or ten people deep from the stage. Perfect! Perfectly balanced sound and close enough to be totally immersed in that stunning light show.
I got to hear a bunch of songs by Daughter during their set, and I could hear the stylistic similarity with The National in that the songs dealt with the moody and austere aspects of life. This English trio is headed by the sultry vocals and indie-folk guitar work of Elena Tonra (above photo by Amanda Glover) and I found them a band of great promise. They come back to town to headline their own show at The Wiltern on October 8th.
It seemed like The National were as fresh and rested as if they hadn't played the night before, and perhaps it was my close proximity, (photo at right by Brad Roberts) but it felt like a more highly charged and energetic show. Starting off with "I Should Live In Salt" again, it serves the same function here as it does on Trouble Will Find Me; to pull you in to the rest of the set. As I expected, the light show added drama, tension and great beauty to the set. So much so that sometimes we found ourselves enshrouded in fog near the stage. Once again it was a varied set that pulled from previous albums, High Violet, Boxer and Alligator, providing the perfect backdrop to present the new songs.
eeds it, he jumps to the piano. Twin brother, Bryce Dessner (below), is a constant guitar presence and they both add strong vocals to the multi-layered harmonies.
Brian Devendorf is the amazing drummer who plays such an important role in the propulsive power of the band and Scott Devendorf
plays bass which lends the band the deep, throbbing lows in the music.
Also they both sing and everyone is backed up by two brass players who
add some eerily haunting distant horns
The set list contained so many favorite songs that just came tumbling at you one after the other that the effect was fairly narcotizing. And the weather was so perfect for an outdoor show it seemed to be conspiring to make the night unforgettable. Again, the stand out songs for me was the new material. Maybe because I've seen this band seven times, I've heard all the old songs played to perfection before. So tonight, "Don't Swallow The Cap" followed the opener, which features all those lovely overlapping vocal patterns near the end.
Everyone loved "Anyone's Ghost" from High Violet followed by Boxer's hit, "Mistaken For Strangers" before returning to the new album for "Sea Of Love" and "Demons". Other highlights included the pairing of "I Need My Girl", which Matt dedicated to his wife, and "This Is The Last Time", which reveals the darker side of a relationship. One wonders, is it about the same one? That's the song with one of my favorite lyrics of the year: "Your love is such a swamp".
(photo by B. Roberts)
"Pink Rabbits" sounded just beautiful and "Humiliation" was oft requested and finally played near the end and the set ended with the magnificent "Fake Empire". I could hear the encores playing as I meandered my way through the cemetery and back down to planet earth and out onto the street. Such a wondrous night and maybe the best concert by The National that I've ever seen. Together with Grizzly Bear at The Cemetery on Friday and this, I've just seen two of the best shows of the year.
As a footnote, The National played The Jimmy Kimmel Show the following day and that takes place right out my kitchen window. So as I was preparing dinner on Monday night I got to listen to the band play "Graceless" and "This Is The Last Time" just up the street. What a town!
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