The National (and a load of other bands)

They're comin to Dallas in October! I'm lookin forward to it.

Little Eden wrote:

, but have learned the hard way that it is a bad idea to listen to them while driving at night...

Why is it a bad idea?

tdawg wrote:

They're comin to Dallas in October! I'm lookin forward to it.

They're going to be playing in Columbus next week which gives me a tough call- I live in Cleveland about 2.5 hours away and I went down for The Hold Steady last week and am obviously going to The Gaslight Anthem this week. Three 5 hour round trips in three consecutive weeks might do a number on me hah... I wish bands would just play in Cleveland over the summer when they can't tap into the Columbus Ohio State market with classes out of session

oldgospelchoir wrote:

Little Eden wrote:

, but have learned the hard way that it is a bad idea to listen to them while driving at night...

Why is it a bad idea?

When you're tired and behind the wheel, their soothing/gloomy sound tends to make me drift off and that's all bad.

I'm going real slow with The National. I have Boxer and Sad Songs for Dirty Lovers and I'm just gonna listen to those two records untill I know every line and beat and then I'll move on to the next one and probably still be amazed by the amazing awesomeness that these guys produce.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=127535160

can anyone rip this for me PLEASE!

They'll be in Dallas in October!! And the day after TGA plays, none-the-less.

I saw them on Saturday! It was an incredibly good show, one of the best I've ever seen. The band was fun, the music is even better live, and it was just perfect all the way around (aside from a very talkative crowd).
Dare I say it? It was a better show than TGA the night before. TGA had a good show, but the sound was poor at the stage (venue issue), and the band seemed tired (though they played a really, really long set! Finished after midnight).

tdawg wrote:

I saw them on Saturday! It was an incredibly good show, one of the best I've ever seen. The band was fun, the music is even better live, and it was just perfect all the way around (aside from a very talkative crowd).

That's awesome that you got to see them! Seems like they have a pretty intense live show. Such a great band.

Yeah, it was! If you haven't seen them live, you oughta look up their live versions of Squalor Victoria and Mr. November on YouTube. Gives you a pretty good idea of what their concert is like.
These guys have gotta release a live DVD!

tdawg, did they play All the Wine? That was one of the 3 songs I really wanted to hear when I saw them in Portland and they didn't play it. Still a pretty good show though.

Yep, they did! Fans put up a setlist here:
http://www.setlist.fm/setlist/the-national/2010/house-of-blues-dallas-tx-5bd527b4.html

Also, you can hear the entire show here:
http://www.archive.org/details/national2010-10-09.ccm41.flac16
Someone bootlegged the whole concert! Not bad quality either.

sweet thanks tdawg...they got the bonnaroo bootleg. I been looking for that for months

Alright, so after hearing some buzz around these guys for awhile (and reading that Brian was a big fan ), I decided to check them out. Saw them at a super huge Best Buy today and they had "High Violet" and "Boxer". Kinda just wanted to get "Boxer" cause it had more songs, and shared a name of the TGA song ( lol @ me). I decided to just grab their latest. Listening to it now, it's really...different, and interesting. Very soulful and meaningful. It will def take me quite a few listens to get used to, though. Very chill music.

I would describe their music as melancholy, bittersweet, feel-good and sad if I had to choose four words. High Violet is the darkest album I would say, some lyrics are really really deep. The band however claims that they have a sense of humor about it as well. They've been called "Growers" as it seems to take people a while to really get into their albums, and I somewhat agree to that. It took me some time to really get obsessed with them but I kept giving them another chance since I really liked their sound and Matt's unique voice, and now I am truly obsessed, can't get enough of them. Seeing them in March, can't wait!

I've had Lemonworld stuck in my head all week, my fav from High Violet if I had to choose. Unbelievably good.

"I was afraid, I'd eat your brains. Because I am evil"

band is cool in my book

Someone once told me that the National is the missing link between Joy Division and Bruce Springsteen...i kinda agree

High Violet definitely takes a few listenings for it to really sink in. I loved Boxer, but I couldn't get into HV till the 3rd time I heard (and then I was hooked).

A lot of their songs, I have no idea what they mean, but it's easy to attach my own meaning to it (e.g. Vanderlyle Crybaby Geeks).

I woke up this morning around 930. Instead of getting up, I listened to this album. It would have been the 3rd time. Really enjoyed it.

Runaway is easily my new favorite song. So cool. the closing track is another favorite. Very chill music. Perfect to listen to when in that type of mood

following madly in love with this band again after going few months without listening to em at all.

They did a cover of Clampdown (The Clash) recently. It wasn't as good as I thought it would be. Been getting into High Violet a lot lately though, great album.

Jaywalk wrote:

They did a cover of Clampdown (The Clash) recently. It wasn't as good as I thought it would be. Been getting into High Violet a lot lately though, great album.

The National covering the Clash doesn't really make any sense to me. The Clash's sound is very raw, with the National is nice and calm and smooth. I'd've been really suprized if it had worked.

here's the link to the cover of Clampdown

http://www.magnetmagazine.com/2011/02/09/take-cover-the-national-vs-the-clash/

I like it. they put their own spin to it which is what covers should be about.

i am FINALLY seeing them in july with Beirut supporting!
I am beyond excited!