The National

Tonights openers, The Middle East, are an act that have evaded my live attendance for sometime now, yet despite expectations derived from a spectacularly ethereal EP, they simply could not handle the size and stature of the show they were playing. The Townsville septet creates music that should hold an entire crowd breathless, something which they only managed to do during their two best songs, The Darkest Side and Blood, but throughout the rest of their surprisingly long supporting set, a highly excitable crowd could not relate. As soon as The Middle East work out how to translate their music into the larger venues that they could very well be playing in, their gradual rise into prominence can only accelerate.

The National have struggled to garner the respect and attention that they so rightly deserve, and while this writer may exact a slight sense of bias on this matter, it’s a bloody outrage. These Brooklynites are one of the only bands in recent memory to consistently release great music over and over again, and tonight's show has more than confirmed their brilliance.

With a seemingly bottomless pit of appropriate openers to choose from, the decision to open with quiet croon Runaway was decidedly left of centre, yet it paid off as a masterstroke with each member of the sold out crowd left completely mesmerised. This state was not allowed to linger however, with the band proceeding to power through an array of hits from their last four albums, focusing mainly on their latest, and easily most accomplished offering, High Violet.

It has become something of an old adage to say that The National “never take themselves too seriously”, but after seeing tonight's performance one can’t help but accept this as a cold hard fact. Joyfully engaging in playful banter between themselves and the audience, the boys debunk any notion that they are depressed red wine drinkers through the sheer fact they the enjoy themselves, although there was indeed a few drops of vino to be found on the stage.

Something that has always held The National’s music together is the lyrics of lead singer, Matt Berninger. Berninger has never had to sacrifice realism in preference for emotional attachment and has always maintained the uncanny knack to derive escapism from his profoundly true and relatable lyrics, and this easily proclaims him as one of the greatest lyricists of the last decade.

Encoring the show with old hit, Mr. November, and arguably one of the best songs they’ve ever written, Terrible Love, The National left their audience wanting so much more, so on they lumbered for a second encore, and effortlessly the most profound moment ever witnessed at The Enmore. As an unplugged version of Vanderlyle Crybaby Geeks rung throughout the auditorium, the audience sung along with a passionate connection that made the band at one with them, something that is still resonating throughout the collective conscience of many well after the last refrain.

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