The National, October 16 at the Fox Theater

As is often the case when having a daughter that I spend time with on alternating weekends, I can't plan far in advance for the end of the week, sometimes not more than just a few weeks at a time, and while I usually have a schedule flexible enough that this isn't a problem for a lot of other plans, it can make getting tickets to shows difficult when they go on sale months ahead of happening. I had missed the National on their L.A. date, which was at the beginning of their tour, before the new album had come out, but they did a show in Pomona, just outside of L.A. (another great thing about being a concert fan in this city). When I found out a few weeks before that I had the weekend of that show open, I got a ticket. To be honest, I didn't rush since I just didn't love their newest album, High Violet, for which they were touring. After Boxer I got all the albums before that and I loved them all, though I knew they wouldn't play anything before Alligator in concert. They were getting a considerably higher profile for the newest stuff, which I only started warming up to right before the show, and they were playing bigger venues (hopefully the Greek the next time, as they would be more than perfect there), and it was good that they were getting the exposure they deserved, I just wish I myself could have been more engaged in the material. But I got two general admission balcony tickets anyway, one for Jaime, who I was going to shows with at the time. It was on a Saturday so I didn't have to rush out to Pomona, and we got there early enough to get an awful Mexican dinner beforehand, skipping opener Owen Pallett, who I had seen at Coachella anyway. We got in about 20 minutes before the band were slated to go on, and some of that was chewed up by the line for the restroom, and when I went to scout the balcony 10 minutes before the band went on there was barely a seat. I finally found two seats way over on the right side, near the top, and they were still great seats, as the venue is small enough that you can see the band clearly from anywhere up above, and while we were just lucky to have found seats together, I have to wonder what happens when there aren't enough seats to accommodate everyone at a sold-out show. Luckily we didn't have to test it. The show itself was filled with wonderful music but it was unextraordinary. It wasn't like the band was going to whip out surprise covers or special guests; they're only concerned with making great, tuneful, dark yet beautiful music. And my calling it unextraordinary actually isn't to be demeaning at all or say that there was anything at all in the world wrong with it, though I have to say that even live the newer stuff didn't set me on fire. But the stuff from Boxer and Alligator were barn-burners and it all did fit really well together. They ended with a track that they performed with a stage full of unplugged instruments, even singing without amplification, letting the audience fill the place with song for them. It was a quiet moment (out of necessity) but wonderful, pulling all the passionate fans into song with them, bringing everyone together for just a few moments in time. Jaime had a great time, and I turned her into a fan of the band, though we broke off our relationship a few days later. Hopefully the band doesn't split up now, at the current height of their success, since from here there's every reason to think they could go even higher. The Hollywood Bowl could be a good place for them too (and not just there opening for R.E.M.)

The National's set-list:
"Runaway"
"Anyone's Ghost"
"Mistaken For Strangers"
"Bloodbuzz Ohio"
"Slow Show"
"Squalor Victoria"
"Afraid Of Everyone"
"Available"
"Conversation 16"
"Apartment Story"
"Sorrow"
"Abel"
"Daughters Of The Soho Riots"
"England"
"Fake Empire"

"Mr. November"
"Terrible Love"
"About Today"
"Vanderlyle Crybaby Geeks"