The National had played Outside lands in San Francisco on Friday so it was easy enough for them to play a one-off show in L.A., maybe to cover their traveling costs or just to make getting out worth more than one show. I've never seen them as a popular or well-known band (they opened for Modest Mouse opening for R.E.M. two years before) but they'd played just about every American festival for the last year and I certainly won't complain about any venue they play in town; if they can sell the Wiltern then it's good to be in the company of so many people who have great taste in music. The shows I'd seen there recently had started at 9:15, and there wasn't a set-time posted on Twitter, so I got there closer to 8:30, just in case, but I was informed at the door that they weren't going on until 10:30. There isn't anything to do in the area so I got a decent place on the floor and stood. I had some text-messages to get me through but it was mostly something close to meditation. I thought the opener, Cass McCombs (a band, not one person, apparently) might be a good distraction but it wasn't much to talk about; kinda low-beat roots-rock, minus an overly hippie vibe but more denim jackets. Finally the National went on and all was forgiven. They didn't do much new stuff, if any at all, but they played every simmeringly-intense song like it had been a hit. Matt Berninger always seems to be a few short verses away from breaking down but that could be an effect of the music, a show, or the wine he was swigging. The band is appropriately tight and the performance worked well in the dim lights and minimal stage set-up. And indeed, enough people there knew they were in exactly the right place to be.
The National's set-list:
“Runaway“
“Start A War“
“Mistaken For Strangers“
“Brainy“
“Secret Meeting“
“Baby, We'll Be Fine“
“Slow Show“
“Vanderlyle Crybaby Geeks“
“Squalor Victoria“
“Abel“
“All The Wine“
“Available“
“Ada“
“Apartment Story“
“Bloodbuzz Ohio“
“Fake Empire“
“Green Gloves“
“Mr. November“
“About Today“
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