The National/Local Natives, October 11, 2017 at the Hollywood Bowl

The National aren’t the draw for us that they used to be, only because we’ve seen them so much, and most of those shows have been the most special we’ve shared, but it still can just take a nudge to get us to go out and see them again. We had even already seen them play the Hollywood Bowl already, another one of the best shows, and going out on a weekday night is usually a challenge. But we also wanted something to commemorate our anniversary, and we could make a National show into a special night (with the bit of relationship trivia that we could have met the night before we did at a National show we both went to). I got the tickets on Seatgeek (for probably around the base price, which might have been more about the lateness of the event and some poor soul having to drop their price just to get rid of them). It should have been a draw on its own to have openers Local Natives -- one of Carla’s bands before we met (and who had been at my bachelor party in Austin) -- but we were still good enough with them to only get there halfway through the set (and missing Daughter before them). The National did the usual show, mature: moody music dialed down to not too excitable but comfortable and occasionally more than a little demure, but it was also when I realized I wasn't as excited about them as I once was. I hadn’t kept up with the new stuff, maybe even two albums back, and they leaned harder on what they could assume an audience newer to them could expect. My hope is always for anything from Boxer, and while this set had a couple from that, this was about the last time they’d play anything as old, or anything before High Violet (which also at the time was a bit of a disappointment, if only because it wasn't Boxer). It’s not fair to judge them on their reticence for their former selves, but the difference between old vs. new stuff was stark, especially when they were what they were building was weaker than the foundation that enabled them to keep it going. If bands aren’t over the trend of playing whole albums and The National need a new shtick to mount another tour by playing Boxer in its entirety, you know I’d be there. In the meantime I'd acquaint myself with new efforts in the hopes that an old tune will pop up or that an album will do well overall.  For this they still had plenty of good tunes, ideally the best plucked from the scattering of material they’d done since last time, but it was all a bit too cold to not be warmed by familiarity. Downer music can take a bit to get into, and it can be worth it, but the first time can start at a distance. Though the other side to it is that we still love them and it’s plenty to discover progressively later, and enough to get ready for the inevitable next show, even without being a landmark in our relationship, though there’s no reason to not make it a new one. (And a shout-out to Chris who we ran into there and marked the occasion by remembering it was our anniversary.)

The National’s set-list:
"Nobody Else Will Be There"
"The System Only Dreams in Total Darkness"
"Walk It Back"
"Guilty Party"
"Don't Swallow the Cap"
"Afraid of Everyone"
"Born to Beg"
"I'll Still Destroy You"
"Turtleneck"

"I Need My Girl"

"Secret Meeting"

"Conversation 16"
"Slow Show"
"England"
"Bloodbuzz Ohio"
"Carin at the Liquor Store"
"Day I Die"
"Fake Empire"
"About Today"

"Pink Rabbits"
"Mr. November"
"Terrible Love"

Local Natives' set-list:

"Past Lives"

"Wide Eyes"

"You & I"

"Dark Days"

"Who Knows, Who Cares"

"Coins"

"Ceilings" (with Aaron Dessner)

"Fountain of Youth"

"Sun Hands"

The National, March 25 at the Shrine

If the National are playing in L.A., we're probably there.  Though we might have missed this show since we'd just seen them at Outside Lands a few months before, but that wasn't a full set, and it was a bit shambolic, and seeing them at a venue more intimate than an open field is more appropriate for them.  Besides, the tickets were a Christmas present for Carla, and we knew we'd probably have ended up there anyway.  This was something like a one-off, somewhere outside of their tour, or the premiere of their Mistaken for Strangers documentary -- and what better way for a band to premiere a movie about them than to do a show?  The movie may not have gone far released in a theater but at least they could show it and knock out a performance afterwards, for the premiere if not as promotion.  And they got the chance to play the Shrine at the same time, a venue just right for them.  A small place might be too tiny to hold their sound (we missed the Troubadour show), the main stage a festival is too big (and usually too sunny), and the Wiltern, with its general admission area for the floor, could potentially leave the crowd too restless.  Here they could control the setting of the environment, and especially the mood-lighting, to get it right for appreciative fans.  This is music where you're only jumping up and down because you're so excited to be in front of them.  Which we were, and though we'd seen most of the songs, they seemed to have done an extra-long set, presumably as a send-off to that leg of the tour before the rest.  Regardless, it felt like a bit of an extra-special show (though every one of their shows we've seen has been special).  The band seemed a bit tired, though their music can be mistaken as lethargic when it's atmospheric, and those dudes are about our age.  The Shrine seemed packed, but this was probably the first time I'd not been in my seat and waiting for the band to go on so I got to see how many people can be milling about right before a show.  Those beers weren't worth missing the first song or two but the rest of it made up for it.  And we didn't get there early enough to see the documentary, so maybe we missed the point of the show itself (and maybe we would have had more of a chance seeing if it if it had been released widely in theaters), but we still got to sneak in another performance by one of our favorites.

The National's set-list:
"Don't Swallow the Cap"
"I Should Live in Salt"
"Mistaken for Strangers"
"Bloodbuzz Ohio"
"Sea of Love"
"Hard to Find"
"Afraid of Everyone"
"Squalor Victoria"
"I Need My Girl"
"This Is the Last Time"
"All the Wine" (stopped)
"Abel"
"Slow Show"
"Pink Rabbits"
"England"
"Graceless"
"Fake Empire"

"Humiliation"
"Mr. November"
"Terrible Love"
"Vanderlyle Crybaby Geeks" (acoustic)

Outside Lands, August 9 - 11 at Golden Gate Park

We had skipped Coachella for the year (the first year ever missing for me) so we decided to replace it with another festival.  It was a reason for Carla & me to take a vacation, giving us an activity to ground us when we went out of town.  The rest of the year was a lot of work so we both weren't thinking much of vacations but a long weekend away seemed like it could get us away.  The girls (Vanessa, Noa, Rachel, Ghazaleh) were talking about doing Outside Lands and that sounded good to us.  We weren't completely so into in the line-up, but only because we'd already seen so many of the bands there before.  And we knew we could party together or do our own thing on our own if we wanted.  Being in San Francisco, and together, was active enough.  We decided to drive up there, along the 1, which always promises to be a high point of a trip up north, and it was.  We got to stretch out our short vacation a bit more, though we didn't need my truck to get around in.  The festival itself turned out to be just part of our activities, as we ended up seeing more of the city; there were a few acts we went in to see, though we didn't leave much to get out of it beyond that.  Most of the bands we saw we thought we'd see some other time, whether we eventually did or not, but seeing a few of them there in that environment made for some unique experiences.  We wandered for a while after getting in the first day, and mostly strolled the grounds when we weren't looking right at a band.  We got together and watched Band of Horses, which left no impression on me but we had a good time with the girls; Nile Rodgers of Chic had a great year after the Daft Punk thing and I rather wish I had listened in more than just passing by on the way to the potty, since he/they sounded great.  There should be more disco in the world; we stopped by to see what Wavves are about but we didn't get much from them; for Friday it was our plan to see The National.  By now you should know that that band means something deeper to Carla & me and they were up to our expectations, as always.  It was a harder set, like they were trying to rock a little heavier to keep up with the rest of the bands there, and Matt was a lot looser, perhaps, I would guess, because he had been a touch inebriated.  But in those circumstances, and since it made for a more unanchored, funner performance, he could be forgiven.  He's a professional.  The set, with the Kronos Quartet playing with them, leaned toward the newer songs, which, I had realized too late, I was mostly unfamiliar with since I hadn't gotten the new album (though I remedied that shortly after we got home).  My enjoyment of the set didn't suffer in the least for it.  A predictably great set, and one that made getting in and out of the festival for the day worth it; both of us had seen Paul McCartney before so, as monumental a deal as that would be for anyone, for us it wasn't as much as seeing him the first time.  We were more concerned elsewhere.  But it was still great to see him.  And it's not like he's not going to play plenty of songs.  He even switches it up every tour so there's a variety, among his own solo songs with the Beatles and Wings songs.  It's not like he's going to play a bad Beatles song, and there are surely enough post-Beatles songs he plays for the hardcores.  There's no reason he has to keep going back to songs from over 45 years ago since he should have the freedom to play a few new ones, which he does, though he never overdoes it.  As he usually does, he played for three hours, right up to the curfew, and there was never a lack for material.  We watched most of the set, coming in and out of it as we wandered, stuck around for the best bits, including the encore, which was mostly the same as the last time each of us saw him.  But a sterling performance all around, and one fitting for the legend he is.  He wasn't the main attraction there for us but he would be at the top of the list for other things we never mind to see.  Then we went out with the girls and drank, partying for as much as we'd planned for the weekend.

We made it in on Saturday with no great expectations save for the one band we were there for.  It seems like someone recommended the Growlers so we checked them out for a minute; Jurassic 5 were the other big deal for the festival us.  We'd missed them at Coachella -- one of the few acts that would have drawn us there if we'd decided we would go -- and we had no guarantee they would come through L.A. with another show (though ridiculous to think now).  I usually had a casual relationship to their music, often just listening to what Rick was playing frequently when we were hanging out, and the only album I had was Strength in Numbers (apparently not even their best one).  Carla was a serious fan and it was important to her to see them there. A friend told me once that they're the rap group that people who don't like rap could listen to and I wouldn't disagree with that.  They have a broad appeal, rooted in hip-hop but an accessibility that makes them close to the rock music they're surrounded by and which becomes their base from their DJs' picks. They certainly rock out like a rock group, and put on a party even when it's the middle of the afternoon and thousands of cantankerous North Californians aren't sure if they're drunk yet or not. Lots of white people jumping up and down and plenty of a party.  A good time for all, and certainly paying off their draw, especially for us.  Though strange seeing a band from my own town for the first time in San Francisco.  But they're not so localized that they would seem alien, and there's something about them that has a world-wide appeal, if by way of the American west coast; we were expecting to see the Yeah Yeah Yeahs at FYF later in the month so we weren't so dedicated to seeing them but the girls wanted to go so we did that.  It very quickly become a mid-field dance party to beat out the gloomy San Fran weekend afternoon and we had a blast.  They were touring for Mosquito but they mixed in plenty of It's Blitz! so it was some dance-y material and we got down.  (A good thing, too, since we weren't able to see them later on.)  Even when they're phoning in a performance, the songs are good enough to carry them through.  And you can't beat anything you can dance to when you're with those girls; we looked at Grizzly Bear for the moment as we were leaving.  That subdued, rustic sub-genre has never done much for me but Carla digs them, and it was a good way to bring us down and get us out.

Saturday night as we were leaving we made the decision to skip Sunday.  Of course we wanted to hang out with the girls but we were often so separated from everyone that it might not have happened that we would have all been able to get together in the first place.  We had planned for our trip to be filled by the festival but once we got there we wanted to give more time to seeing the city and being in the metropolitan part rather getting more of the park.  We missed Hall & Oates (the main attraction for the day, having seen them before and hoping for a better set, but not enough to have us go in for the day), Vampire Weekend (which we could live without), Matt & Kim (always a great show but short), and the Red Hot Chili Peppers (Carla isn't a fan, and I'm not a big one), so we didn't feel we missed so much.  And we ended up having a great day in the city, as was the weekend, and as was the festival, once again, for however much we gave to it.

Missed, on the days we were there: Smith Westerns (probably because they went on too early), Yeasayer (I would have seen any other band instead); Phoenix (not keeping us around for the rest of the day); Nine Inch Nails (I'd just seen them at Lollapalooza and didn't feel a need to see them again).

Paul McCartney's set-list:

"Eight Days a Week" (Beatles)

"Junior's Farm" (Wings)

"Magical Mystery Tour" (Beatles)

"Listen to What the Man Said" (Wings)

"Let Me Roll It" (Wings)

"Paperback Writer" (Beatles)

"My Valentine"

"Nineteen Hundred and Eighty-Five"

"The Long and Winding Road" (Beatles)

"Maybe I'm Amazed"

"I've Just Seen a Face" (Beatles)

"San Francisco Bay Blues"

"We Can Work It Out" (Beatles)

"Another Day"

"And I Love Her" (Beatles)

"Blackbird" (Beatles)

"Here Today"

"Your Mother Should Know" (Beatles)

"Lady Madonna" (Beatles)

"All Together Now" (Beatles)

"Lovely Rita" (Beatles)

"Mrs. Vandebilt" (Wings)

"Eleanor Rigby" (Beatles)

"Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite!" (Beatles)

"Something" (Beatles)

"Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da" (Beatles)

"Band on the Run" (Wings)

"Back in the U.S.S.R." (Beatles)

"Let It Be" (Beatles)

"Live and Let Die" (Wings)

"Hey Jude" (Beatles)

"Day Tripper" (Beatles)

"Hi, Hi, Hi" (Wings)

"Get Back" (Beatles)

"Yesterday" (Beatles)

"Helter Skelter" (Beatles)

"Golden Slumbers" (Beatles)

"Carry That Weight" (Beatles)

"The End" (Beatles)

Yeah Yeah Yeahs' set-list:

"Sacrilege"

"Gold Lion"

"Mosquito"

"Art Star"

"Under the Earth"

"Heads Will Roll"

"Soft Shock"

"Despair"

"Maps"

"Cheated Hearts"

"Pin"

"Zero"

"Date With the Night"

The National's set-list:

"Fake Empire"

"I Should Live in Salt"

"Don't Swallow the Cap"

"Bloodbuzz Ohio"

"Sea of Love"

"Demons"

"Afraid of Everyone"

"Conversation 16"

"Squalor Victoria"

"This Is the Last Time"

"I Need My Girl"

"Graceless"

"England"

"Mr. November"

"Terrible Love"

Jurassic 5's set-list (incomplete):

"Back 4 U"

"I Am Somebody"

"Jayou"

"Improvise"

"Harlem Shake" (Baauer cover; part of Cut Chemist's mix break)

"Quality Controlv

"Concrete Schoolyard"

"Jurass Finish First"

"In the House"

"Freedom"

"Red Hot"

"A Day at the Races"

"Verbal Gunfight"

"What's Golden"