Day: May 24, 2010

PHOTO by Lindsey. Full set here.

“I’m put together beautifully/Big wet bottle in my fist/big wet rose in my teeth/I’m a perfect piece of ass.”

The National entered the spotlight at The Wiltern in Los Angeles on Friday night as you’d expect them to: upstanding, cool, dark suited and tied. Matt Berninger sings, “showered and blue-blazered/fill yourself with quarters,” over brothers Dressner and Devendorf’s calm, sorrowful instrumentation on “Mistaken for Strangers.” At first, the lights were low, and the sound was bad. Matt left the stage frequently between songs, and finally returned with a full bottle of wine all for himself. It’s only just begun.

The sound’s been adjusted and Matt’s made it a glass or so in by the time we get to “Afraid of Everyone,” one of the many odes to the loneliness of aging on the Brooklyn band’s latest masterpiece, High Violet. He starts singing more forcefully and loses his footing occasionally as he circles the stage, slightly frantic. Lost in the brightening lights, he begins to crack as he repeats the song’s closing line, “Your voice is swallowing my soul soul soul.” He’s not singing to us as much as speaking for us.

For the remainder of the set, the band serves as a steady base for Berninger’s breakdown, never missing a beat as Matt’s bottle of wine slowly empties.