June 5th, 2013
Guest Writer: Ed Koller
I saw The National live for the first time at All PointsWest in 2009. They played in the
afternoon as a light rain came down on a cool, grey, summer day. I walked easily
through the thin crowd to where it tightened up about 4 people deep from the
front. It was actually the perfect pairing for The National’s set. I closed my
eyes as they played and their baritone and barbiturate sound made my skin feel
numb to the rain.
Already critically acclaimed, they’ve absolutely
sky-rocketed in popularity since. This band is well-deserving of drawing a
crowd that can fill an arena. Unfortunately their sound doesn’t translate well
to a venue that large. The Barclays Center in Brooklyn, with its Nets jerseys
hanging from the rafters is a sterile, hollowed out place. I sat in the back
right corner about 30 rows up with my brother and our wives and settled in with
our first round of $10 Stellas.
The National took the stage with the loudest applause they would hear for the rest of the
night. All band members were set
up near the front of the stage, the drum kit set back just right of center. The
band is also traveling with a horn section that stood on a riser just over lead
singer, Matt Berninger’s shoulder. A digital screen that ran the length of the
stage provided the backdrop of live video feeds mixed with some pre-recorded
footage.
They opened
with Don’t Swallow the Cap, one of my favorites off the new album. It was immediately
clear that Matt’s baritone was going to struggle to carry in the mix. The sound
was muddied, swallowing up all the bass and midrange, with the highs of the
drum kit and guitars occasionally hissing out of the top range. I thought it
might be a result of where we were seated, but as I scanned the crowd and the
general admission pit, I saw a sea of motionless heads, as if everyone was
leaning in slightly to hear the intricacies as the band pushed through
Bloodbuzz Ohio, Mistaken for Strangers, Out to Sea, Sorrow and Demons.
Chatter between songs had them expressing how they were
happy to be back home in Brooklyn. And we all had a good chuckle when lead
singer Matt Berninger said “It’s nice to be back at Barclay’s where it all
began” (it just opened in Sept. 2012).
The concert never transported me like it did at All Points
West even as they offered a healthy amount of songs. Most people off the floor remained seated the entire show and
it looked as if people were absorbing the music with quiet consideration. Possibly
sensing this, Matt did try to make it more of a rock concert by not singing but
shrieking out the chorus of Abel and other tracks that feature his upper
register.
They pulled Annie Clark (St. Vincent) out of the wings
sporting a new look of blond curls to perform This Is the Last Time and that
genuinely surprised and energized the crowd. Unfortunately this number went unrehearsed
or they missed a chance to sound check together. She approached the mic for the
chorus and unfortunately I didn’t hear her at all. My brother and I said how
unfortunate it was to not take advantage of her awesome guitar play or have her
sing a verse or the chorus alone.
When the band played Mr. November during the encore, Matt
took a wired mic into the crowd as a bouncer fed the line out. He quickly
got at least 50 yards deep and was easy to track as cellphone flashes keep a
small, strobing spotlight trained on him. It was probably the last of the
five-song encore that left the best impression on me. After a concise
introduction of “just one more thing” the band went into an acoustic version of
Vanderlyle Crybaby Geeks. I think it was the fact that it was dead quiet and
Matt’s voice wasn’t competing with instrumentation that they were finally able
to shrink the arena into an intimate space. And it’s
there that their music thrives.
