The National @ Bowery Ballroom

Last night [May 31st], at Bowery Ballroom, was one of those nights where all the elements came together to make a beautiful show. The band was pretty much on time, the weather was warm and breezy, and there was breathing room at Bowery. Actual room to move and not feeling like four other people were on top of you is a rare occurrence at a sold-out show in Bowery Ballroom. But even besides all that, The National performed one of the best shows I have seen in a while.


After a couple songs, they played "Secret Machines," which totally opened both the band and the crowd up. After that, there was a series of amazing moments in the show. It was the kind of show where you just could not take your eyes off the band. Matt Berninger is such an interesting frontman to watch. At times he seems both physically pained and happy at the same time, standing in this nervous and anxious manner but with the biggest smile on his face. You could just tell that the band was so excited for the show, so happy to be playing 5 straight sold-out shows in their home town. It just made the energy in the room shoot up, and as the band continued on in their set, the high energy was consistent and translated to the crowd. Also, I don't know the violinist/keyboardist's name, but he was amazing to watch. Who knew you could rock so much on the violin?

Playing equal parts Alligator and The Boxer, the highlights for me last night were "Ada," "Gospel," "Squalor Victoria," "Mr. November," "Fake Empire," and "Looking for Astronauts." But it was during their encore when they played "Abel," when everyone was crazy, including Matt.


He walked his way to the left side of the stage, climbed on all the equipment from the previous bands, and jumped into the crowd. So rock star.

In short, the best thing that I can say about the show is that I'm going again on Friday. And you should go too.

DOWNLOAD: The National - "Secret Machines" [Remix] (MP3)