It’s been quite a while since The National played a reasonably intimate venue in Chicago. The past few years have included multiple summer stops at Lollapalooza, Pitchfork Festival and even an opening spot for R.E.M. at the United Center. All of those settings don’t really provide the atmosphere most fans truly desire, but, of course, beggars can’t be choosers.
It was a pleasant surprise to see a headlining tour pop up with a stop in Chicago at one of the more bizarre venues in the city, the Aragon Ballroom, which might be one of the weirdest music joints in all the land. The place looks like you might be co-mingling with Vikings and princesses, with ornate interior architecture reminiscent of Medieval Times. There are 7 giant swords hovering oh so slightly above the stage and there are actual twinkling stars on the ceiling. Needless to say, none of this, unfortunately, improves the sound quality of this venue, which leaves you saying to yourself, “It was really good to see them,” with an emphasis on “see,” while asking yourself “Why didn’t they play the Chicago Theater exactly?”
As the lights went down, a huge movie screen at the back of the stage showed them wandering through hallways and up stairs to get to the stage amid a roaring crown eager to see them in a venue where you don’t hear two or three other bands’ music in the background a few hundred yards away. Opening with “Runaway” off 2010’s High Violet, the band was going straight for the heart. The lights were low and the crowd fixated on Matt Berninger’s trademark grip-the-mic-with-eyes-closed croon. That was followed by “Anyone’s Ghost” and then it picked up a notch or two with “Mistaken for Strangers” from Boxer.
They were as tight as ever, with percussionist wizard, Bryan Devendorf, gluing the band together amidst cavernous echoes inside this airport hangar giving fans a familiar sound when songs were somewhat hard to hear. Especially on “Abel,” with the ever-present pop-pop, pop-pop-pop that snakes through the song from start to finish. Guitarist Aaron Dessner said this song was about twins, which seemed pretty apropos considering his was about 12 feet away.
The 18-song set continued along nicely featuring songs spanning most of their catalogue with some highlights being, “The Geese of Beverly Road,” “Bloodbuzz Ohio,” “Baby We'll be Fine,” and appropriately closing with “Fake Empire.”
After a very brief run off stage, The National returned back for the encore playing “About Today,” off Cherry Tree EP, and there wasn’t a damn thing the Aragon Ballroom could do to make this song bad. The way it builds and builds creates this extremely picturesque energy among the thousands of fans, but just like the opener, they start soft and build you back up. Next up were “Mr. November” and “Terrible Love,” and they finished off with an all-in a cappella version of “Vanderlyle Crybaby Geeks” that left most everyone in tears.
Having seen them in Los Angeles at the Troubadour, El Rey Theater and Wiltern Theater (one of my favorite shows of all time), and in San Francisco at Café Du Nord, this one doesn’t really stack up as far as quality, but that has nothing to do with The National, and everything to do with the venue. However, I did walk out with a smile from ear to ear as this band has something very special to offer the world, and as we’ve seen over the last 7 or so years, the progression is just going to continue and maybe my dream will come true and I’ll one day see them at The Chicago Theater where they would be right at home.
More info on The National: www.americanmary.com
