The National - Best. Show. Ever.

I went to go see The National play at Shepherd's Bush Empire tonight, with a friend. It had been a while since I'd been out for a non-classical concert, so for one thing it was a nice change. I had also 'turtled' into my shell that is my room for the past two weeks, completing two presentations and two essays, so I felt like this was my reward for all the socializing time I had given up. And man, was it ever a treat! I'll be looking for a second-hand CD store the next few days to get a hold of all their CD's, because they were fucking good!! Such a presence on stage, and very intricate layers of music going on all at once. While at times percussive and explosive, they still managed to sustain the complexity that really lay at the heart of their music. At no point during the show did I feel that what they presented was clichéd, simplistic, or uncreative. A solid, solid show.