The National – 3 Arena – Live Review – 21/09/23
by Killian Laher

The National always struck me as one of these bands that got very popular by accident, never really meant to end up in large, 15,000-capacity venues like the 3Arena.  Those who arrived early, and there were plenty, got to check out support act Soccer Mommy.  Led by Sophia Allison, the band cranked out muscular versions of Circle The Drain and Bones, with a heavy outtro on the latter.  Things got quite heavy on Darkness Forever but in the main, songs like Shotgun and the jangly Your Dog are slick pop numbers, rocked up.  They also threw in a guitar-heavy cover of Sheryl Crow’s Soak Up The Sun, really channelling that 90s angsty singer-songwriter vibe.

The audience had come to worship The National, and this was clear right from the opener Once Upon A Poolside.  In a set drawn mainly from their last five albums, their set was polished and professional.  Early in the set, during Eucalyptus singer Matt Berninger made the first of several forays into the crowd which made for an exciting atmosphere.

Bloodbuzz Ohio provided an early mass singalong while a joyous version of I Need My Girl was punctuated with feedback.  A couple of songs from this week’s surprise album release Laugh Track made an appearance, the piano ballad Hornets carried itself well, while Smoke Detector was something of a highlight. An unsettling glimpse of the old, pre-Boxer Berninger with the uneasy chorus “you don’t know how much I love you, do you” before he bursts into an unhinged rant.  It’s one of their best songs in years.

The older edges of their back catalogue weren’t neglected, the band played Abel, Fake Empire and a heartfelt, lump-in-the-throat-inducing version of About Today.  The encore mixed the old and the new with Weird Goodbyes and Space Invader rubbing shoulders with Mr. November and Terrible Love before the closing singalong of Vanderlyle Crybaby Geeks.

An impressive show without truly igniting.  This is because many of their songs have a very similar dynamic, which becomes a bit samey after a while.  But there were moments where the band transcended this, and that made for a happy audience.