The National

NSW residents, The Middle East, are tonight’s support act and open to a relatively small and somewhat distracted crowd. With a fairly sporadic output during their career, you may be forgiven for feeling a little disjointed by their set. Although not high on highlights, they do possess two gems of songs in Blood and The Darkest Side. While the former is delightful in its frailness, Blood expresses a genuine contentment in its expression. And who can suppress a smile when you see drummer, Mike Haydon pound out towards its climax?

After five studio albums and over a decade since forming, Ohio’s newly promoted favourite sons, The National, are finally gaining the global attention more befitting their talent. And it’s easy to see why. Like a fine red Bordeaux wine, their early albums hinted at their potential, albeit somewhat inconsistent in their quality. Upon reaching maturity, the density and aromatic feel of their later albums have improved markedly. In a world where instant gratification is the norm, it is refreshingly and deeply satisfying that a band like this still exists. And thank God for that.

As such, tonight’s setlist consists entirely of songs from their last three albums with a large emphasis on their latest offering, High Violet. The album has recently been on the receiving end of many end-of-year accolades and dominates proceedings throughout the night.

The band opens atypically with slow builder Runaway, followed closely by Mistaken for Strangers and Anyone’s Ghost, all performed with focused poise and precision. They manoeuvre through the searing and guzzling guitars of Bloodbuzz Ohio, the moody and sweet chord cycles of Afraid of Everyone and the high-tempo energetic rendition of Abel.

Although it doesn’t all go quite to plan. Personal favourite Slow Show is performed mid-show but was without its usual magnetic pulse and ended up somewhat fizzling. However these disappointments were mere blips in the vast sparse ocean. The signature drumming and Matt Berninger’s brooding vocals were evident throughout the night and the jovial mood was noticeable with the abundance of stage banter between band members. England and Fake Empire receive huge cheers as they close out the main set.

Exactly like a fine red Bordeaux wine, the encore was quite something. Mr November is belted out, complete with its pulsating energy which is continued in Terrible Love. Obviously distraught in not being close enough to his fans (?), Matt and his microphone leaps into the crowd and ploughs through the packed audience, all the while not missing a beat. To see him reach the 2nd barrier and then proceed to waltz across the barricade belting out Terrible Love is just one of those moments. A real hair standing on your back kind of moment.

And then finally the night ends with an unplugged acoustic version of Vanderlyle Crybaby Geeks. And then that was that. Nineteen songs including an encore that was a smile turner everywhere you looked.

The National? Go global my friends. With tunes like these, it’s a question of when, not if.

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