Comments on: Beards, Blazers & (Frat) Boys?: The National

By: sarah

sarah — Mon, 02 Jul 2007 11:57:00 +0000

excellent post and comments! i’m still feeling a little giggly.

oh, and when they’re in australia, would they mind a side trip to manila?

By: angrycitizen

angrycitizen — Thu, 28 Jun 2007 18:31:00 +0000

when I saw the national last year this guy in front of me was talking about his love for Matchbox 20!!!!

By: douglas martin

douglas martin — Thu, 28 Jun 2007 18:21:00 +0000

wow. frat boys? i was kind of shocked when i went to the bloc party show earlier this year and saw them there, but the initial surprise subsided when i remembered that they were getting alternative rock radio airplay, on the playlist right between my chemical romance and old pearl jam records.

but the national? i mean, sure, they have a “breaking out” feature in spin magazine [i almost choked on my saliva from laughing so hard when i first saw it], but there are no other signs of major crossing over. being as though they’re playing seattle in capitol hill [the most hipsterish part of town by an embarassingly wide margin], i’m sure there will be plenty of beards and PBR on tap.

as far as the national themselves, it’s pretty obvious to say that– live or otherwise– they’re one of the five or ten best bands in america right now. from sad songs for dirty lovers onward, they’ve released nothing but near-flawless material.

one of my favorite band-heckler exchanges was when they came to town last year. the heckler in question shouted, “play ‘murder me racheal,’ ” and berninger bewilderedly replies, “we already played that.”

By: dudeasincool

dudeasincool — Thu, 28 Jun 2007 16:31:00 +0000

‘Boxer’ is the kind of album that you have to listen to a number of times before it kicks in–so if i were to give the audience the benefit of a doubt, then maybe they were in spaceland because they didnt know the material. Yes it was a great show, but it was a really strange audience.

And do I qualify as one of the ‘Hollywood’ slick types?

By: The Drizzle

The Drizzle — Thu, 28 Jun 2007 14:30:00 +0000

I saw them at The Earl in Atlanta a few weeks ago. Although the fact that it was at The Earl, i.e. in a backroom off a bar in East Atlanta whose closest neighbors are a tattoo pallor, a gay bar, several other bars with no apparent names, and a healthy sprinkling of vacate lots, probably didn't allow as many surprising people to sneak in, I was surprised by the makeup too.

I didn't run into too many girls that I would definitely peg as sorority girls. However, there were without a doubt several groups of 4 or 5 guys that were strongly fratty, for which there was no apparent reason for them to know about the show or be there.

On the other hand, the same frightening middle aged guy that pops up at every show of this ilk was there, wandering around early as usual. And there were several hipster couples that spent 20 minutes discussing vinyls with the merch girl.

But in the end, the number of PBRs I ran into could be counted on one hand and I remember 2 or 3 blazers at best, and truly, those are the only metrics that really matter.

Also, Abel is a kickass closer.

By: floodwatch

floodwatch — Thu, 28 Jun 2007 14:25:00 +0000

Jesus, Weiss. The “Mongolian Chop”? Everyone in the office just stared at me for my Tourette’s-like laughing outburst.

The ol’ wife dragged me to see this band about four years ago, and it was a hell of show. Of course, there were probably about two dozen people in the audience at most, all bearded, dark-rimmed glassed, and, um, blazed. I would have never imagined the kind of audience at one of their shows that you just described - they just don’t seem like that kind of band.

By: Wayne

Wayne — Thu, 28 Jun 2007 11:27:00 +0000

Please send this band to Australia, now!