With their seventh album Sleep Well Beast flying high at number one, this was perfect timing to catch The National in their prime. This latest success cements their place as an important band, both commercially and critically, and choosing a run of nights at a smaller venue rather than repeating their O2 and Ally Pally headline shows indicates a desire to get physically closer to their devoted fans once more. Support came from This Is The Kit, fresh from their own headline show at Concorde 2, Kate Stables again playing her own brand of delicate folk. They suffered a tough start, at times struggling to get heard on the quieter tracks against the ambient noise from the venue but found their groove by the end. Joined on the latter part of their set by Aaron Dessner, they finished with a rocking ‘Hotter Colder’.

As the countdown began to The National, anticipation was built by LED screens on stage playing CCTV-style images from backstage of the band preparing to enter the fray. As each band member appeared on screen, roars and screams emanated from the crowd. What followed was a two-hour masterclass in how to build, hold and control intensity in a manner that will be familiar to anyone who has seen The National live before. Frontman Matt Berninger is a compulsive character on-stage, screaming on his knees on one song before switching to soft honey-like tones on the next. Alongside him, the Dessner twins (Aaron and Bryce) provide balance and symmetry on guitars while the Devendorf brothers (Scott and Bryan) are responsible for the propulsion power in the rhythm section.

For a band with as impressive a back catalogue as The National, they showed no inclination to rest on their laurels by instead leaning heavily on their current work. The early singles from Sleep Well Beast were rolled out quickly – ‘The System Only Dreams In Total Darkness’ provoked a huge reaction from the crowd before ‘Guilty Party’ continues its path towards becoming a firm fan favourite. With its mournful chorus (“It’s nobody’s fault, no guilty party / I just got nothing, nothing left to say”), it doesn’t so much tug at the heartstrings but tear and claw desperately at them and proves that nobody does melancholy as beautifully as The National. Alongside these new favourites, stone-cold classics like ‘Bloodbuzz Ohio’ and ‘I Need My Girl’ are dropped in with no fanfare and a minimum of fuss, prompting fist-pumps from the crowd and couples’ quiet embraces respectively.

Berninger dominates the stage like no other frontman, playing both air-drums and air-guitar while singing or prowling amongst the band when not. Rushing into the crowd at points to embrace the front row, there seems to be less angst in his performances these days, replaced by a mellow happiness. Joined intermittently by Lisa Hannigan on backing vocals, the pendulum continued to swing between the fiery intensity of ‘Graceless’ before the softer ‘Carin at the Liquor Store’. The emotion of the crowd is controlled perfectly, with a setlist that delivered sustained highs as the night continued while not being afraid to drop in tracks such as ‘About Today’ – introduced half-jokingly as “the most depressing song we’ve ever written”.

A majestic ‘Fake Empire’ allowed the Devendorf and Dessner brothers to take the spotlight, climaxing with the Dessner twins facing each other with guitars high in the air for (literally) twin solos. As the band finished with a cover of Talking Heads’ ‘Heaven’ and Berninger's traditional foray deep into the crowd for ‘Terrible Love’, it was time for the night to finish. Nobody makes the melancholy feel as good as The National, who continue to stride ahead of all competition. This latest victory lap sets a marker for all other bands to follow, as the act of replacing half of an already magnificent set to concentrate on newer material shows a supreme confidence. These beasts are showing no sign of any rest.

Jamie MacMillan

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