Concert Review: The National - 5/25/09 at the 9:30 Club

The National are one of my top five favorite bands in the universe. Their last two albums, Boxer and Alligator are "go-to" albums on my iPod, and I've now seen them live three times. As much as I love them, I have to say, they're one of those bands that is better on a recording than live. Not that they aren't good live, but there's something missing in the live performances. Their cool, polished sound doesn't translate perfectly, and they don't have the proper instrumentation (even with nine people on-stage tonight).

Tonight's show featured an awesome opener, Colin Stetson, a saxophonist who also played in the horn section for the headliners. He did some things with a sax that I did not know could be done. I highly recommend giving him a listen. Also, the horn section added a lot to a few of the songs they played, like "Fake Empire" and "Squalor Victoria".

The National played four new songs as well (see setlist). My favorite of the new ones was "Runaway", with which they opened the set. Here's the very shaky, poor-sound-quality video I took of it:


They played 15 other songs, mostly from their last two albums. I was disappointed not to hear "All the Wine" and "Looking for Astronauts", two of my favorites, but I'm sure they had to mix up the setlists, since they played two shows at the 9:30 Club last night.

SETLIST
Runaway (new)
Start a War
Mistaken for Strangers
Brainy
Secret Meeting
Baby We'll Be Fine
Slow Show
Vanderline Crybaby (new)
Squalor Victoria
Abel
Ada
So Far Around the Bend (new-ish)
Apartment Story
Green Gloves
Fake Empire
-----------
City Middle
Mr. November
Blood Buzz Ohio (new)
About Today

song of the day - 5.22.09: peter bjorn and john - nothing to worry about

Peter Bjorn and John's new album Living Things has a lot of good stuff going on. It's an album worthy of year-end considerations. They've gotten a little more adventurous with their sound, and it's worked out just fine. Their Scandinavian charm is fully intact. My favorite track on the album is "Nothing to Worry About." This song rocks on it's own, but the video makes me love it even more. It's a mash-up of screaming children, hip hop beat, and PB&J's usual indifferent, dryly comedic vocals. Add the crazy Japanese dance/biker/Elvis gang from the video in the mix and you have a treat for all the senses! Ok, just sight and hearing. Those are definitely the top tier of senses though.

songs of the day - 5.15.09: feeling good

I love American Idol. There, I said it. Most reality competition TV shows make me want to gouge my eyes out with a spork, but American Idol holds a special place in my heart. Next week's Season 8 finale will include two of my favorite contestants of all time: Kris Allen and Adam Lambert. In the four seasons I've watched, I'm pretty sure the talent has been the best this year. Adam Lambert is the cream of the crop and maybe the best contestant Idol has seen... ever. 

However, even though his mad vocal skills and emo hairdo are the bomb dot com, I think Adam's gotten a bit of unfair praise from the judges. Paula is unabashedly in his corner to win the whole shebang, and it seems new judge Kara Dioguardi has joined her. One of the songs Adam was heavily praised for (on Rat Pack week) was "Feeling Good," written by Anthony Newley and Leslie Bricusse for the 1965 musical The Roar of the Greasepaint—the Smell of the Crowd, and probably most famously performed by the great Nina Simone.

Adam pulled the wool over the Idol judges' eyes on this one. The judges gushed about his original rendition of the song, but really, it was a straight ripoff of the version performed by Muse on their album, Origin of Symmetry. Too bad the judges have such limited record collections; they've probably never even heard of Muse (Randy definitely would've dropped the name if he knew). It's a trick Lambert's been pulling all year, like on his rendition of Tears for Fears' "Mad World" which sounded a heck of a lot like Gary Jules's version. David Cook copied covers regularly last year, as did Chris Daughtry in Season 5, and probably every other "rocker" on the show. (How do I know the judges have limited record collections? When Blake Lewis performed 311's "All Mixed Up," the judges revealed they had never heard of 311... uhh, WTF?)

But you know what? Who cares if he's covering covers? He sounds good. That's what counts in this competition. I don't really care if he wins or not. American Idol has a way of ruining talents by forcing them to put out terrible records, so I'm not holding my breath, but I have a sneaking suspicion and hope that Adam will transcend.