The National

[Lubic]

They were superb - one of favourite sets of the weekend. I heard a few people saying they might be a bit of a downbeat end to the festival. It was anything but. Sounded massive throughout. 

 

Was starting to feel the last few days catching up with me after navigating the ridiculous Avril crowd and sticking around for Two Door, but The National lifted me right back up. 

Edited July 1 by Lubic

[matrainertje]

1 hour ago, Lubic said:

I heard a few people saying they might be a bit of a downbeat end to the festival. It was anything but. Sounded massive throughout. 

Still don't know why people say this. Last National shows I attended were euphoric, 'fists in the air' affairs. 

[robith]

1 minute ago, matrainertje said:

Still don't know why people say this. Last National shows I attended were euphoric, 'fists in the air' affairs. 

 

Certainly by the IAETF era, even I as a huge afficanado had grown weary of their live set. Always heavily laden with their latest album, down tempo, they all looked like they hated being there.

 

By all accounts they had a very frank conversation about calling it a day after lockdown, got a bit of spark back, made the new albums and they haven't looked back. Feels like they finally accepted to hold these big stages they needed to act big again. Recent shows comparable to their very very best around the Boxer/Violet era imo

[1986]

Can only echo the praise. They absolutely killed it. 

[st dan]

I think the whole ‘Sad Dads’ rebrand has been an excellent ploy and given them a whole new lease of life.
It’s basically them admitting they aren’t attempting to be ‘cool’, but there is a huge market for their target demographic, and they’re even winning over new fans even at this stage of their career and 10+ albums in. 

[JayDiesel]

Yeah, share the same sentiment as everyone else here. This is my third time seeing them, the Primavera show in 2022 was effectively impossible to beat, but i think they managed it last night. Lots of chat about how great they've been on this tour, and I completely agree.

 

The new albums aren't great, but they do sound massively improved live. Eucalyptus was excellent. 

 

Highlights of the set, and my weekend, were Abel, Mr November (obviously), and the somehow, still improving rendition of About Today

[Gommy]

Matt seems much more accomplished as a front man these days.

 

Does he have a thing against wireless microphones?  Tim Booth had one.  Everytime I see them there are 1 or 2 poor guys trying deal with the mic cable.

 

[Andeeroo]

Slim pickings for me on Sunday so went along to this as I at least knew one song. Literally one song.

 

Had an absolute blast. Chilled at the back for a lot of it but joined the crowd at points. Think I've avoided them in the past as they struck me as dull. Anything but though. The sound was huge and it was emotional. Perfect Sunday night closer.

 

Consider me a fan now.

[Glasto Weatherwatch]

Been watching them since Alligator days and agree with post above that said they’d got a bit stale - can’t remember if it was 2019 (think it was) but they looked totally lost on the Pyramid. But last night was spectacular, absolutely loved it. 

[dougal1]

Amazing as always. They're absolutely top of their game at the moment, playing the best live shows I've seen them do over the years.

[Little Andy]

I wrote on this thread months ago how I wanted to get into them. I listen to 5 albums, Boxer being my fave.. and loved their set! 

[charlierc]

1 hour ago, Gommy said:

Matt seems much more accomplished as a front man these days.

 

Does he have a thing against wireless microphones?  Tim Booth had one.  Everytime I see them there are 1 or 2 poor guys trying deal with the mic cable.

 

I did ponder this when seeing them at Alexandra Palace. Not least during Mr November and he basically walked out the door to go and shout the lyrics at people in the atrium, but seemed to run out of cable just after the doors.

[Ashl]

10th time, 11th on Friday! That was great 2nd time in a row with Ally Pally it's been great quality! Looking forward to rewatching later!

[nickkkw]

Ahhh, that was everything I had hoped for and more. So glad to see so many casual/non-fans enjoying that so much too, including a few from our group who tagged along. Managed to get on the barrier, shake Matt's hand during Mr November and just generally have an absolute ball. What an absolutely stunning set - they've been smashing it live over the past year and really hope to see their following increase as a result.

[chuckles07]

What a great way to finish on a sunday - brilliant. So pleased for them to perform as well as they did following the 2017 show on pyramid that didn’t land that well, Matt Berninger was mentally/emotionally all over the place then, last night he was bob on and the band seemed to be more up for it as well. Icing on the cake for me was standing near Cate Blanchet at the beginning of the set. She obviously has great musical taste. She is the crowd just infont of the sound desk.  Don't normally spot celebs!

[milly16]

Just watching their set now….beautiful.

missed them as my partner didnt want to see them 😩😩 regret regret regret 

[Thunderstruck]

On 7/1/2024 at 2:32 PM, Lubic said:

They were superb - one of favourite sets of the weekend. I heard a few people saying they might be a bit of a downbeat end to the festival. It was anything but. Sounded massive throughout. 

 

Was starting to feel the last few days catching up with me after navigating the ridiculous Avril crowd and sticking around for Two Door, but The National lifted me right back up. 

 

They were really good. Anyone thinking they are downbeat hasn't listened to them, there were some magic moments. It's just a shame I was so so tired by the Sunday, I think that stopped me really enjoying it like I should have 😞

 

One other maybe controversial point - I think they need a permenant female voice. It was so refreshing when Kate Stables came on as Matt's voice can get so heavy on the ears after a while.

[Meerkat]

18 minutes ago, Thunderstruck said:

 

They were really good. Anyone thinking they are downbeat hasn't listened to them, there were some magic moments. It's just a shame I was so so tired by the Sunday, I think that stopped me really enjoying it like I should have 😞

 

One other maybe controversial point - I think they need a permenant female voice. It was so refreshing when Kate Stables came on as Matt's voice can get so heavy on the ears after a while.

Have to admit I didn’t know who Kate Stables was but I enjoyed the guest appearance.

 

Will have to check her stuff out

[Walter Sobchak]

What a way to put to bed that 2017 set that didn't go down well with non fans!

 

Tremendous stuff!!!

 

 

[Superscally]

Their setlist last night was even better. Had a mate there, very jealous of that pudding, despite having dined in luxury on Sunday 😁

[Neville Street]

Eden last night was even better, which is hard to believe after Sunday. Just stunning.

 

someone analyse the sets for overlap, I’m too tired!! Felt like about 50% to me.

[Walter Sobchak]

19 minutes ago, Superscally said:

Their setlist last night was even better. Had a mate there, very jealous of that pudding, despite having dined in luxury on Sunday 😁

 

They had a few sweet deep cuts...seeing them again tomorrow, hope we get something similar!

[rwhitehouse13]

Saw them at Eden last night, just superb, a band right at the top of their game.

[mouserat]

Was also there last night and it was superb. I had a few worries early on that the crowd were a bit flat and wouldn't match the Glasto atmosphere but that was swiftly dispelled. Really glad I went as felt like they made a conscious effort to mix up the setlist in case people had already seen them on the Sunday either in person or on TV.

[Superscally]

So good. Next gig for me...AC/DC

Change of pace somewhat