The National @ Kool Haus

The National
Kool Haus
Thursday May 21, 2009

Somehow I’ve missed The National every time they have played Toronto in the last couple years. Other commitments, be it shows, work or family events has plagued my attendance. I kinda wished that I had other plans Thursday night. It’s funny, I had a conversation a couple weeks ago with a friend who travelled to Chicago last summer for Lollapalooza and she said that one of the biggest disappointment of the weekend was The National’s set. I thought maybe it had something to do with the sheer size of the venue, but maybe not.

I must first say that I love this band’s recorded output. Their two full length albums have been in constant rotation for years, and I never bore of lead singer Matt Berninger’s voice and smart wordplay. Thursday night’s show for me was completely mediocre, the band were a tad sloppy, the venue seemed to swallow their music, and as a live band, The National were painfully boring to watch. Matt’s voice during the first few songs was really great, but then he seemed to lose it and relied on a Ian Curtis-eque yelp for the rest of their set. I couldn’t engage with what was happening on stage, I felt myself drift from the music and ended up people watching for the bulk of their set. Another leading factor to my disappointment was the fact that they seemed like background music, there was a ton of audience noise during their set and it seemed like many people we’re paying attention. On a positive note, the addition of a live horn section was pretty awesome.

Mark put it best, we’ve all seen way too many mediocre straight ahead rock shows in the last 15 years of attending shows. If I’m going to pay money to see a band, I need to see something interesting and new, the band needs to be able to offer an actual show or spectacle. Shows like Thursday just don’t cut it anymore, even if the band’s recorded material is quite fantastic.