Live Review: The National - Alexandra Palace, London 26/09/2023
The National’s Tuesday night show at Alexandra Palace was an illustration of one of the world’s biggest and best bands right now, in so many ways.
It’s an unplanned three-night residency in the iconic building for the five-piece from Ohio. On Monday, they recorded the Jools Holland show in the small room. Tuesday and Wednesday they headline the Great Hall to over 10,000 people each night. A typical alt rock show, perhaps?
But once you walk in, it’s clear that it isn’t. Cartoonist Chris Riddell is live drawing the show from the sound desk midway back. There are introductory posts as the crowd files in, the black outline of a winged horse being completed as the PA plays ‘The Chain’. It’s the start of a triple-shift for Chris.
The National played for two hours and 25 minutes, a set length which would see other acts eschew a support entirely. But at 7.10pm, Soccer Mommy came out with ‘Crawling In My Head’, beginning the night with an enjoyable wall of sound. Sophia Allison fronted her band, with the quintet trucking through 40 minutes of 90s-style soundscapes – quite literally in ‘Feel It All The Time’ about her truck, carried across with beautiful vocals and a big band sound. This week, she released covers EP ‘Karaoke Night’, and played one song from that. Sheryl Crow’s ‘Soak Up The Sun’ is distinctive, but also felt like a perfect fit for Soccer Mommy, before closer ‘Your Dog’, a standout song in its own right. The expletive but strong lyrics will form part of someone else’s cover EP soon enough.
At 8.20pm, The National came on stage to cheers, before tearing into three songs from this year’s album ‘First Two Pages of Frankenstein’, starting with ‘Once Upon A Poolside’. Early on, Aaron Dessner vowed not to repeat any songs across both London shows – the Tuesday crew got ‘Tropic Morning News’ and ‘New Order T-Shirt’, to match the event tees on the merch stand.
There’s a lot of history to cover. ‘Bloodbuzz Ohio’ was a cacophony, complete with Bryan Devendorf’s frantic drumming before vocalist Matt Berninger joined the front row to scream the finale to ‘Sea of Love’ with his trademark baritone voice. ‘Guilty Party’ was dedicated to Soccer Mommy, while two tracks honoured the birthday of long-term fan Fred, who usually prefers heavier bands like Sisters of Mercy, New Model Army and Ministry. When it was proposed before ‘Slow Show’ that The National really should dedicate something “tougher”, Matt replied: “No, Fred loves this!” Many others did too.
They’re overly humble, thanking the crowd several times, but they’ve worked hard to get here. The introduction to ‘Cherry Tree’ focused on their 93 Feet East show in 2003, where they were found by their label. It becomes a moment – halted for a medical emergency, the band huddle close, like they could have done on Brick Lane two decades ago. There’s something soothing in watching Chris Riddell draw a girl’s hair on the big screens – after live-drawing Soccer Mommy’s whole set, here he was working away as The National criss-cross their career. When the issue was resolved, with no harm done, the band continued where they left off – “Loose lips sink ships” - and you can imagine throwing back to a time when they weren’t this big, yet.
It could never be planned this way, but following the disruption, the hugely energetic ‘Abel’ from 2005’s ‘Alligator’ was the necessary shot in the arm to propel us into the second half of the show.
Sandwiched between three tracks from last week’s ‘Laugh Track’, a companion record to April’s ‘Frankenstein’, came a rocking version of 2007’s ‘Mistaken for Strangers’. Matt’s brother Tom turned up with a camera at last week’s show in Cincinnati, reminiscent of their documentary of the same name a decade ago. When this was mentioned, Matt replied “I have no brother”. Maybe the song shone brightly as it was amidst unfamiliarity, but it was a true highlight.
In ‘Day I Die’, the singer made another run to the crowd, some of whom have ‘Hello My Name Is’ stickers made famous by album artwork model Paul. You try not to make this the Matt Berninger show, but he’s magnetic. Maybe it’s the mannerisms, like the ceiling cited in ‘Tropic Morning News’, or the shrugging arm when he asks “They say love is a virtue, don’t they?” in ‘Sea of Love’.
When Matt is off-stage, the rest of the band - Bryan, his brother Scott Devendorf, Aaron, and his brother Bryce Dessner – are good. Great, even. It’s The National on home turf, even when they all have top-quality projects of their own, in production, classical music, or other bands. A rock band formed of musicians who worked on countless records far beyond their group, or a 21st-century Toto.
‘England’ and ‘Fake Empire’ were twinned to end the main set, starting and ending with the soaring brass section of Ben Lanz and Kyle Resnick. In the former, Matt sings “You must be somewhere in London” at the top of a hill which offers clear views of the capital. Chris’s cartoon had the word ‘Brexit’ scrawled on it, while the ‘Boxer’ track on evil leaders was accompanied by Trump as an orange baby, Riddell’s political background shining through. His desk was swamped with fans at the end, with lots of people keen to get a permanent reminder of those fleeting images.
The magnitude of The National meant every track in the four-song encore would close for other bands. Last summer’s ‘Weird Goodbyes’ finally has a home on ‘Laugh Track’, while ‘Mr November’ might be the closest thing to encapsulating what The National have been doing for an awfully long time in a singular track. It gets everyone going, and it is super cathartic.
The studio version of ‘Space Invader’ hinted that it would a beautiful long and chaotic live ending, and that proved to be the case, while ‘High Violet’ closer ‘Vanderlyle Crybaby Geeks’ was poignant in bringing the show to land. Matt had no microphone, but he amplified himself in sound and vision. The crowd who stuck it out to the very end unite to make a special moment to round off night one.
The National marry beauty with the tough moments of life, so gloriously drawn in their music and lyrics. As the band said, “We learned how to have fun as a band after 24 years”, and it definitely felt that way. Matt joked he was upset this wasn’t a headline yet, but if it’s not an opening, it’s sums up the band so far. Here’s to the next 24 years – and here’s to the next 24 hours, as they prepare a whole other show.
Words by Samuel Draper
Photography by Abigail Shii
