The National at the Orpheum Theatre
It’s hard to imagine any band having a better day than The National did yesterday: First, the New York group essentially opened for President Barack Obama, the leader of the free world, who just about shut down the entire Madison metro area with his rally at the Library Mall yesterday. Then The National headed down State Street to the Orpheum Theatre, where the group played to a packed theater of fans ready to shout the choruses of “Fake Empire” and “Bloodbuzz Ohio” back in its collective face.
Storming the stage after a splendid set from opener Owen Pallett—who told the crowd he was playing old stuff, like Has A Good Home standout, “The CN Tower Belongs To The Dead,” to change things up—The National leveled the crowd, splitting its set almost equally between the top-notch material from this year’s High Violet and 2007’s Boxer. For all the talk of how the Internet makes celebrities out of bands just to break them down quickly, there’s little doubt that The National’s blog-buzz-assisted, 10-year incubation brought the group along at the perfect pace. The band emerged this year as one of indie’s most sure-fire draws, with a set list ready to kill theaters and a sound big enough to engulf even the largest festival crowds. From the opening tones of “Runaway,” to the screams of “Mr. November” and “Squalor Victoria,” to the ever-climbing “Terrible Love,” there isn’t a weak link in The National’s set, and the band hit high after high... after high. It’s easy to believe the group is only another great album away from doing this in stadiums.
For a band as serious about its music as The National, the onstage banter was incredibly funny. Guitarists Bryce and Aaron Dessner told an anecdote about their cousin, Jeff Dessner, playing hockey for UW-Madison—which people seldom believe because of their own lack of athletic ability—before awkwardly dedicating the following song, “Conversation 16,” to him. “This song is about cannibalism…and it’s for our cousin Jeff.” Singer Matt Berninger repeatedly dedicated songs to politically themed things like “swing states,” and talked about how “Slow Show” gets played at peoples’ weddings all the time, but it’s partially about his dick.
But the big topic for stage discussion was the group’s dalliance with Obama, whose handlers used “Fake Empire” in an ad back when he was running for president. “It was the first time we saw him in the flesh,” Berninger said, before sharing what it’s like to shake hands with the leader of the galaxy. “We tried to determine what were the three best words to say to him, since you don’t have much time,” he said. “And [drummer] Bryan [Devendorf] told him, “You rocked it, sir.” Coincidentally, that’s probably what the attendees of the show at the Orpheum would have said to the band given the chance.
