|
Starsnostars posted:Does Matt scream during any of the new songs? As said, he screamed during Squalor Victoria. I'm having trouble remembering if he screamed during any of the new ones. He definitely screamed a few times that I didn't expect (actually at this point in their career I wasn't expecting any screaming, so it was awesome to see/hear that).
|
#
?
May 27, 2013 21:15
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 4, 2024 18:10 |
|
|
Last time I saw them live, I remember him screaming at the end of Secret Meeting, which just added to the beautiful cacophony of voices they were going for. 
|
|
#
?
May 27, 2013 22:14
|
|
|
Does anybody have good quality pictures of the inner packaging of this record?
|
|
#
?
May 28, 2013 02:54
|
|
|
Electric Bugaloo posted:I think they've sorta forced themselves into a position where they have to explicitly make their live cuts more energetic than the album versions- their sound's gotten a bit less raw and raucous with each subsequent album, but their increasing fame has also greatly increased the average size of the venues they regularly play. Compare their touring schedule now to the Boxer era, where they were generally playing smaller spaces and arguably the biggest tour they did was opening for REM (and they sounded horribly out of place at Madison Square Garden). From High Violet onward, all they've been doing is headlining and playing festivals. They've reached the indie rock version of "arena band" status. Agreed. I saw them in 2008 in Montreux opening for Interpol and it was a very small, intimate show with fantastic acoustics. The next time I saw them, in May 2010 in Berlin, HV had just been released and they were a much bigger band playing a much bigger venue. It was a completely different show, way more energetic, but lacking in intimacy - and the sound was poo poo (because of the venue, not the band). I also saw them at the Gurtenfestival in Bern in 2011, which was fantastic; it's a pretty small festival, so I actually managed to get a place right in front of the stage. The point being: The National have evolved a lot as a live band over the past few years, and you're absolutely correct to point out that the reason for this lies in the evolution of their material but also in the growth of their reputation and hence audience...
|
|
#
?
May 28, 2013 11:12
|
|
|
They were actually playing a hockey arena when I saw them, Matt commented it was a first for them.
|
|
#
?
May 28, 2013 11:38
|
|
|
I've listened to the new album six times in the past two days (unusual for me - I'm not an intensive repeat listener). It's got a strange and compelling energy to it that keeps drawing me back. I was actually rather unimpressed on the first two listens - it wasn't until the third listen that things clicked. The songs are more elegantly composed than High Violet; I'm enjoying how they've moved back from the slightly scrappy aesthetic of that album (though I still think they're best served by clear, transparent production like on Boxer, rather than the murk of the last two). The subtle flourishes from the rhythm section also add to the interest - straying away from 4/4 and 6/8 etc. 2013's shaping up rather nicely for music, I'd say.
|
|
#
?
May 28, 2013 19:13
|
|
|
I've finally put enough listens in to have real ~feelings~ about this and most of them are love. Echoing what everyone else has said about closers. On Alligator, Mr. November is second only to Baby We'll Be Fine, Gospel is somewhere between Strangers and Apartment Story/Brainy (depending on my mood at the time) for that same second place title, Vanderlyle was my faavorite on High Violet, and again, Hard to Find is my top song here. I can tell this is gonna be a grower for me, not that I don't adore it already, but I know there were certain aspects and other things that I'll realize after a few dozen times through that will just suddenly hit me out of nowhere. I mean, hell, it took until earlier this year for me to fall in love with Gospel. I like Don't Swallow the Cap even more now than after it was released. I'm really REALLY looking forward to receiving my pre-order package now.
|
|
#
?
Jun 2, 2013 05:49
|
|
|
Just had a heart-attack when I looked at the date for the Barclays Center show, then looked down and saw the same date on my clock. It had just turned midnight and technically 6/5, but I thought for a moment I missed the show and it was *today*. gently caress. Phew. Was very excited for the new album, listened to it on repeat for a few days straight, fell asleep with it on, etc. Not very into it. "Don't Swallow The Cap" is one of their best songs for me. For a while "Graceless" and "Humiliation" grew on me but they have issues. "Graceless" transitions in an awesome way and builds up to a huge climax, but kind of drags at the end. Still really like the absurd lyrics "there's a science to walking through windows" and I wish karaoke bars had these songs just so I could weird people out. "Humiliation" starts out gorgeously and like most everyone else I love the lyrics, but I don't like the second half of it. Every once in a while I get the "if I stay here.." part of "Sea of Love" stuck in my head, but I think it's pretty underwhelming as a whole. I may change my mind on that, though. The chorus to "Fireproof" is really embarrassing to me for some reason and I always have to skip it. It kind of sounds like if you forced someone to sing the first chorus that came to their head at gunpoint. "Heavenfaced" has something of the same effect on me when it starts with the "..she's a griever..". Still one of my top currently active bands, and I think parts of the album will grow on me, but I'm not able to spin the whole thing the way I can the last 3 albums.
|
|
#
?
Jun 5, 2013 05:29
|
|
|
androo posted:
Same here. It's almost (and still may be) the best song on the album, but then this "blue velvet" part comes in and it just feels like two songs got accidentally mixed.
|
|
#
?
Jun 5, 2013 13:25
|
|
|
Seeing them tonight in Brooklyn with Youth Lagoon. First time seeing them and I'm excited 
|
|
#
?
Jun 5, 2013 17:39
|
|
|
They loving killed it in Brooklyn earlier. Super-high energy, long and varied set that had most of my favorite songs, and a surprise guest vocals from a very very blonde Annie Clarke (St. Vincent), even though her mic was quiet and the backing touring vocalists sung her parts over her. Matt is a huge crazy rear end in a top hat on stage and I love it. Does he normally hit himself in the head with his microphone, throw his mic stand around, drop beer bottles, or run 80 feet out into the crowd with a wired microphone and then move to one side, forcing everyone to hold his mic cable in the air and pass it along? Squalor Victoria had an extended build-up and instrumental swell at the end and was one of the highlights. Fake Empire sounded excellent with a live brass section (or whatever you'd call two dudes with horn-esque things, I never know how to describe it.) I may have changed my mind about a few of the songs, after hearing their live counterparts. Sea of Love was much more interesting, for example. A lot of slower songs feel more like Brainy live, not sure if it's the volume or the energy. First time seeing them live after falling on love with Boxer when it came out 6-ish years ago. Totally worth it.
|
|
#
?
Jun 6, 2013 08:50
|
|
|
androo posted:They loving killed it in Brooklyn earlier. Super-high energy, long and varied set that had most of my favorite songs, and a surprise guest vocals from a very very blonde Annie Clarke (St. Vincent), even though her mic was quiet and the backing touring vocalists sung her parts over her. Yeah, he tends to do that more often than not when they play Mr. November. I lined up early for GA yesterday, so I managed to hug a railing for the entire night. I didn't realize how much the floor filled up until I saw pictures posted to Instagram after the show. Anyway, since it was an arena show in their hometown I felt like the band really went all out for it. 24 songs! They didn't look out of place playing there at all. Sirius XMU broadcast the show live and it looks like they'll re-air it a couple of times this weekend. quote:The National Live in Brooklyn
|
|
#
?
Jun 6, 2013 13:54
|
|
|
interpunct posted:I lined up early for GA yesterday, so I managed to hug a railing for the entire night. I didn't realize how much the floor filled up until I saw pictures posted to Instagram after the show. Anyway, since it was an arena show in their hometown I felt like the band really went all out for it. 24 songs! They didn't look out of place playing there at all. Same. Got in line about 2 hours before doors and managed to be about 25th in line. Got to hug the barrier just stage left. My right ear is still barking at me but it was completely worth it. I was really happy with how their sound filled the arena. Whatever the hell that rock-out breakdown was at the end of Humiliation...I want to marry it.
|
|
#
?
Jun 6, 2013 18:40
|
|
|
Seeing them at Merriweather Post Pavilion tonight, and could not be more excited. Last time I saw them there, it rained the whole night, which only made it better. Tonight they're calling for the same... if they bust out even a few bars of "The Rains of Castamere" I will die a happy woman.
|
|
#
?
Jun 6, 2013 19:22
|
|
|
That was a great show last night, drat. The live version of Squalor Victoria 
|
|
#
?
Jun 7, 2013 01:40
|
|
|
Tiny Desk http://www.npr.org/event/music/190382702/the-national-tiny-desk-concert
|
|
#
?
Jun 11, 2013 01:02
|
|
|
ThatsMyBoye posted:Tiny Desk I was just looking to see if anyone had posted that yet, really like that format NPR came up with. I really like the new album a lot, I keep replaying it and sneaking songs from it into my playlists.
|
|
#
?
Jun 12, 2013 04:41
|
|
|
Just managed to snag some tickets for their gig at Loppen, Copenhagen. There's only 450 seats so I'm pretty psyched. For comparison they're playing for 9000 at Forum in November. I saw them at Roskilde Festival 2010 (and seeing them again in '13) and it was great, but I'm looking forward to a small venue instead of a huge stage.
|
|
#
?
Jun 12, 2013 08:38
|
|
|
Small venue shows are the best, especially with these guys.
|
|
#
?
Jun 12, 2013 08:45
|
|
|
ThatsMyBoye posted:Tiny Desk That version of This Is The Last Time... That's probably my favourite song on the album and that performance is amazing.I'll admit to being kind of a shameless fanboy of The National but I think this might be their best album yet. I already prefer it to High Violet and given the (true) cliché about National albums being growers I might end up rating it above even Boxer. "All the LA women fall asleep while swimming/I got paid to fish them out and one day I lost the job" is such a great lyric. david mammoth fucked around with this message at 10:37 on Jun 13, 2013 |
|
#
?
Jun 12, 2013 15:46
|
|
|
Winklebottom posted:Just managed to snag some tickets for their gig at Loppen, Copenhagen. There's only 450 seats so I'm pretty psyched. For comparison they're playing for 9000 at Forum in November. I saw them at Roskilde Festival 2010 (and seeing them again in '13) and it was great, but I'm looking forward to a small venue instead of a huge stage. The cool part is, they booked Loppen, not the other way around. Simply because they had such a good time last time they played there.
|
|
#
?
Jun 13, 2013 21:43
|
|
|
Went to the free show at NXNE and it was incredible. Little sad they didn't play Mistaken for Strangers but the extended version of About Today more then made up for it. They also did the acoustic closer of Vanderlyle Crybaby Geeks which was pretty ballsy as the audience was more made up of people who wandered in or just checking out the free show then people who were fans. Surprisingly it ended up going over way better then it did the first time I saw them the ACC. Squalor Victoria is still my favorite drinking song and Abel is still the only song I wasn't pumped to hear.
|
|
#
?
Jun 16, 2013 15:38
|
|
|
Just got back from their gig at Loppen. It was loving amazing. It was hot as hell but I was standing like 2-3 meters from the band. They ended the show with the acoustic Vanderlyle Crybaby Geeks and everyone sang along and it was just Have a blurry photo of Matt walking through the crowd during Mr. November (he stepped on my shoe, the bastard): 
|
|
#
?
Jun 20, 2013 23:58
|
|
|
Bringing this thread/ Back from the dead/ To show you guys the LP/ That arrived almost two months behind schedule/ ...With a crosspost from the Vinyl Thread(!) Electric Bugaloo posted:My copy of the deluxe Trouble Will Find Me arrived yesterday and it owns...though I've already listened to the album like 50 times. It's purty and I like it.
|
|
#
?
Jul 31, 2013 01:30
|
|
|
Anybody else going to the show in Indianapolis tonight? I've never seen them live before and I'm loving psyched, especially after seeing videos and reading how much the people in the thread have enjoyed the shows.
|
|
#
?
Aug 4, 2013 18:52
|
|
|
Electric Bugaloo posted:Bringing this thread/ drat, lucky you. I just got mine today. But yeah it's so absolutely perfect. This is the first National album I've bought in this fashion, the rest are all from iTunes or whatever so this one's special to me. I noticed two of the works of art are by Nancy Berninger (wasn't Matt's pre- National band called Nancy?) and Jessica Dessner (I think Aaron/Bryce's sister). I really like how the box set opens at the reflection on the cover, too. Anyone have a different perspective on a song now that we've got the official lyrics? Somehow I had missed the "45%er" in I Need My Girl until now.
|
|
#
?
Aug 5, 2013 22:09
|
|
|
Anyone else going to the Hollywood Cemetery show tomorrow? It's an amazing venue and if you're in the area and can find a ticket on craigslist or stubhub below $100 it's worth it. Right now tickets are at $125 on stub hub, but just keep an eye on it tomorrow, people might try to sell them at a lower price. I'm also seeing them at the Greek tonight, can't wait to hear the new songs live!
|
|
#
?
Aug 10, 2013 22:04
|
|
|
I saw them at the end of June, and they were absolutely excellent. They played the perfect balance of songs from the new album and their older stuff which was nice. Some surprising choices were, Abel and Secret Meeting, two of the best songs from Alligator. Abel is one of the songs he screams on, my voice went hoarse screaming "My mind's not ready". I really hope that was the right lyric. I still can't decide it Boxer or TWFM is my favourite album, not even by them just in general. Though to be fair I have regularly listened to Boxer for years, so I'll reserve judgment for a while yet. After reading the lyrics the only new thing I picked up on was the Elliott Smith reference in Fireproof ("You're a needle in the hay"), he also mentions Jennifer which was the name of Smith's girlfriend. Though I think the only reason I picked up on it was because my friends had mentioned there was an Elliott Smith reference in the album.
|
|
#
?
Aug 11, 2013 23:10
|
|
|
EmmyOk posted:I saw them at the end of June, and they were absolutely excellent. They played the perfect balance of songs from the new album and their older stuff which was nice. Some surprising choices were, Abel and Secret Meeting, two of the best songs from Alligator. Abel is one of the songs he screams on, my voice went hoarse screaming "My mind's not ready". I really hope that was the right lyric. He screamed on quite a few of the songs at the show in Indy. Abel, Graceless, Sea of Love, and Squalor Victoria just off the top of my head.
|
|
#
?
Aug 11, 2013 23:57
|
|
|
EmmyOk posted:Abel is one of the songs he screams on, my voice went hoarse screaming "My mind's not ready". I really hope that was the right lyric. "My mind's not right," but I'm sure it all sounded the same in the din of the crowd and stage
|
|
#
?
Aug 12, 2013 00:03
|
|
|
Well that's me off Matt's Christmas card list. I absolutely love when he screams Squalor Victoria live, far better than the album version in my opinion. They closed with Vanderlyle Baby Geeks, everything went quiet and they just used a tambourine and stamping to get the rhythm/beat. That was the first time I've seen them live, but my friends said they ended the show like that when they saw them a while ago. Did they end the concerts you folks saw like that? Has anyone seen the Mistaken for Strangers documentary? It's playing in the city soon and I'd really like to see it.
|
|
#
?
Aug 12, 2013 00:18
|
|
|
EmmyOk posted:Well that's me off Matt's Christmas card list. I absolutely love when he screams Squalor Victoria live, far better than the album version in my opinion. They closed with Vanderlyle Baby Geeks, everything went quiet and they just used a tambourine and stamping to get the rhythm/beat. That was the first time I've seen them live, but my friends said they ended the show like that when they saw them a while ago. Did they end the concerts you folks saw like that? Yeah, it seems like they're doing that regularly. The whole band and backup players stood at the front of the stage in a semicircle and the whole audience sang along and it was so much fun. EmmyOk posted:Has anyone seen the Mistaken for Strangers documentary? It's playing in the city soon and I'd really like to see it. No, but I really want to see it, too.  Sadly, it's not coming anywhere near me (yet?).
|
|
#
?
Aug 12, 2013 00:27
|
|
|
EmmyOk posted:They closed with Vanderlyle Baby Geeks, everything went quiet and they just used a tambourine and stamping to get the rhythm/beat. That was the first time I've seen them live, but my friends said they ended the show like that when they saw them a while ago. Did they end the concerts you folks saw like that? They ended the one I saw at the Beacon (December 2011) with it. They played acoustic, got the audience and everyone backstage to come out and sing along, and Matt wandered into the crowd IIRC. It was loving awesome.
|
|
#
?
Aug 12, 2013 00:32
|
|
|
Wazzit posted:Anyone else going to the Hollywood Cemetery show tomorrow? It's an amazing venue and if you're in the area and can find a ticket on craigslist or stubhub below $100 it's worth it. Right now tickets are at $125 on stub hub, but just keep an eye on it tomorrow, people might try to sell them at a lower price. Great fuckin venue for their music. I had an absolute blast. About 20 people back for most of it, too, and then I went back to my blanket and ate some more cheese and crackers. Every time I see them, I think to myself how I wish they toured more.
|
|
#
?
Aug 12, 2013 08:17
|
|
|
Here's the view from about 40 feet back. The LED screens were excellent. Great addition to their performances. The videos were a little bizarre and not quite adding to the experience, but the lighting was such an improvement from their minimalist sets from years past. It's a welcome change.
|
|
#
?
Aug 12, 2013 17:15
|
|
|
From the label's twitter:@4AD_Official posted:The National will be performing on Jimmy Kimmel Live tonight on ABC. Show starts 11.35pm EST.
|
|
#
?
Aug 12, 2013 18:05
|
|
|
I was able to go to both The Greek Theater and the Hollywood Cemetery show. Both shows were equally amazing. The new album sounds fantastic live. I brought my point and shoot to the Greek and was able to bring in my DSLR to the Cemetery show. I uploaded whatever didn't come out blurry over on Flickr. The Greek Theater Gallery: http://www.flickr.com/photos/67770690@N07/sets/72157635050698914/  The Hollywood Forever Cemetery Gallery: http://www.flickr.com/photos/67770690@N07/sets/72157635044208489/   And I was able to get a few videos from the Greek show: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9aJ8jQmfThc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s4JoSLNGQTs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8vZYisg-kUs
|
|
#
?
Aug 13, 2013 03:35
|
|
|
ThatsMyBoye posted:From the label's twitter:  Matt really let out the screams towards the end, haha. Thanks for the heads up!
|
|
#
?
Aug 13, 2013 05:35
|
|
|
I'm watching their Bonnaroo set from a couple months ago on YouTube, (the Lollapalooza one from earlier this month is there too) and aside from generally owning, Matt introduced Conversation 16 with "This is a song about trying to have a proper diet," and I think that's just the best. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bLmcl1AOfWk (It starts at 32:47, if you want to go straight to that one, but it's an awesome set if you need something to distract from your dumb boring job)
|
|
#
?
Aug 26, 2013 18:11
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 4, 2024 18:10 |
|
|
Official video for Graceless. It's brilliant. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jpz_gUyImhw
|
|
#
?
Aug 27, 2013 15:50
|
|