Sunday, February 24, 2008

The National @ Howard Gilman Opera House, 2/23/08

At this point there's very little else either of us can really say about The National. This is the fifth time I've seen them in the last year and they continue to impress and amaze me. This performance at the Howard Gilman Opera House (BAM!) was easily the best that I've witnessed. The sound and acoustics were amazing (as you would expect in an opera house) and I love that the band took this opportunity to include strings, horns, and winds.

Setlist:
"Start a War"
"Brainy"
"Baby, We'll Be Fine"
"Slow Show"
"Secret Meeting"
"Mistaken for Strangers"
"Squalor Victoria"
"Abel"
"Wasp Nest"
"Racing like a Pro"
"Ada" (w/ Sufjan Stevens)
"Apartment Story"
"(New Song)"
"Green Gloves"
"Fake Empire"

Encore 1:
"City Middle"
"Mr. November"
"Daughters of the Soho Riots"

Encore 2:
"Gospel"
"About Today"

4 comments:

Gus said...

I don't think I'll ever get bored of seeing them live. I'll bet the extra pieces playing just added to and complimented their sound so well. I plan on catching them this spring them w/Modest Mouse and REM at Merriweather. I'm curious to see how they come across in a much larger venue.

nyctaper said...

Heh, I saw The National on Friday and Black Mountain/Bon Iver on Saturday, and recordings are on my site.

JK said...

Gus, you're absolutely right. The "orchestra" definitely gave the songs new life. This place was a 2100 seat venue and they had absolutely no problem with it. I should also mention that they did a pretty fine job opening for AF at Radio City (5000+). Merriweather shouldn't be too bad. Assuming people show up early enough to see them.

JK said...

Thanks NYCTaper. I was actually checking out your site on Saturday hoping to get an mp3 of the new song they played. Appreciated the set list too.