While many people associate Toronto with iconic structures like the CN Tower and Skydome*, I think the city's most majestic structure lies on Shuter Street with Massey Hall. If I get just one concert a year there, I am set. Last year my Massey experience that kept me smiling into the winter was Fleet Foxes. This time around it was the National.
Much like my previous entry, the National took more than one performance to satisfy me. Again like Deerhunter, a venue was in part to blame for an incredibly poor performance. That time it was the Koolhaus that warped the National into an experience easily forgotten. The other factor was that the band was piss drunk**, so much so that lead singer Matt Berninger dropped his mic at one point. A year later, I was extremely hesitant to see them again. Luckily for me, a friend treated me to some tickets.
Seats have always struck me kind of funny when I encounter them at a rock concert. Do you sit down and stay sitting? What happens if you want to stand up during your favourite song? Luckily this problem was settled by the band. After the first song or so, Matt Berninger hopped off the stage and began physically standing people up until everyone was on their feet. While I may have lost my visual advantage over the people sitting further back from me, I definitely felt a lot more comfortable.
The remaining memories I have of that Koolhaus performance were punted from my mind within the first quarter of this show. Their back catalogue was wall represented with my favourite songs from Boxer, Sad Songs for Dirty Lovers, and the more memorable ones off of Alligator. Sprinkled throughout, High Violet made its Toronto debut. I had wavered on the fact if I actually liked Terrible Love before the show. Seeing it live convinced me that I in fact did. The moodier songs like like Anyone's Ghost, Conversation 16, and Afraid of Everyone were enhanced by the simple backdrop of a curtain and single-coloured spotlights.
The thing that pleased me the most during the night was the fact that the National had showed up to play. I'll be bold enough to presume that Massey Hall had inspired them to bring a performance worthy of those who had played there in the past. One of the Devendorf brothers (I can't tell them apart) told a story between songs about sending a picture that he had taken of The Band to his father. His dad had responded by saying something like “The Band played there? Why are you allowed to?”
That kind of humour played a huge part in the night. When it wasn't Berninger making some sardonic crack about himself, there was always a tale to be told by the Devendorfs. Some self-deprecating jokes, a few cracks at the expense of other bands, even a tale about how someone's mom had wanted them to ditch Berninger because she wanted them to sing “nice songs.” I spent about as much time laughing as I did drumming my hands on the sides of my legs. For a man who loves humour as much as music, it really doesn't get much better than that.
The only concert I really got to enjoy before a long hiatus from live music over the summer, this gig stands out as one of the brightest points of the season. The friend who got me tickets got a huge hug at concert's end. I hope that made up for the fact that Matt Berninger left his high-five hanging while climbing through the audience. In hindsight, I'm sure it didn't.
* Fuck off Rogers, just because you buy a stadium does not mean I have to abandon childhood memories so you can have another billboard.
** I'm not judging, I might as well have been drinking with them before the gig.
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