The National @ Kool Haus

Although The National have been reportedly hard at work on their follow up to 2007's critically acclaimed Boxer, I suppose they felt that there was no harm in using their summer to ride the wave of success that this excellent album has provided for them. That tour kicked off on Thursday night, here in Toronto. Pretty much every time that they had come here in the past I have been unable to attend, which is unfortunate because each visit showcases them at a bigger venue than the one before. I did catch their opening set for R.E.M. at Molson Amphitheatre and I thought it was downright euphoric, to say the least. Needless to say, that show only made me swell with increased anticipation at the chance to see the band return to a more intimate venue the next time around. Unfortunately my eagerness was tempered significantly when I got the word that the show was going to be at the Kool Haus on a Thursday night. This meant that I was going to be late, and that the sound was going to be bad.

As predicted, the sound was bad. In fact, it was amongst the worst I've ever heard, but I'll tuck Mr. Negative away and try not to dwell on that too much. On the plus side, I still managed to arrive before they started (and from what I've heard, missing opener Colin Stetson was not a great loss) and I even managed to find a decent enough spot where I could see what was going on relatively clearly. Also, I could hear that the place was filled a large number of ignorant chatterboxes, but from where I was standing the crowd seemed to be rather attentive and appreciative. So that was cool. The performance of course, was exactly what I expected it to be, that is, out of control. In a good way.

They opened the evening with Start A War and there are very few things on this planet that balance the seeming contradiction of warm intimacy and epic anthemicism as the baritone vocals of Matt Berringer. For a band that hasn't played together for several months (with the exception of a charity show) his voice was there in all of its deep dark glory and the band themselves did not sound out of practice at all. While it's true that Matt dropped the mic a couple of times and even messed up a few of the opening lyrics to Fake Empire, I think that this had more to do with the liquid in his hand, as opposed to simply being away from the live stage. He even threw the mic stand into the crowd during a blistering performance of Mr. November, which was very rock 'n roll, as far as I'm concerned (although I am glad that I wasn't standing in the line of fire.) The set was mostly comprised of songs from Boxer and Alligator, with some of the highlights being a powerhouse performance of Squalor Victoria and a gruff rendition of Mistaken For Strangers, which had Berringer's voice growing increasingly more Joe Cocker-ish as the night went on. They did showcase a couple of new songs as well, including a noisily sprawling version of Vanderlylle Cry Baby that hinted at the fact that the band's next album is going to carry on in their essential epic, yet brooding Brooklyn style. The encore was equally triumphant, particularly during the one-two punch of the aforementioned Mr. November and About Today, both of which managed to ensure that the show ended on a rock 'n roll high.

Although the show was plagued with all of the usual annoyances that accompany shows at the simply awful Kool Haus, I would say that overall, people that truly appreciate The National (which I would guess would be about 85% of those in attendance) likely left the venue satisfied. The National are currently one of the best live bands on the planet, and this show left me in eager anticipation for the upcoming album, which is apparently due out later this year.

Photos: The National @ Kool Haus on flickr
(I was too far away to get any really good shots , but you can see Chromewaves' pics here, For The Records' pics here, and ChartAttack's pics here.)
Myspace: The National