In the sea of sad dads, I took in the dudes and bros who looked like they just got off work in their dress pants, tennis shoes, and classic vest over button up ensemble. It was a gloomy day with intermediate rain showers in Chicago, setting up an appropriate welcome for the headliners of the evening, The National.
Joined together on the Zen Diagram Tour, they were accompanied by two worthy openers, The War On Drugs and Lucious. The tone for the night was established the moment The War On Drugs began, following through with their well-known trippiness, energizing, and surreal set. They were riveting, jammed tightly, and were overall extremely impressive to watch. The War On drugs are the type of band that will make you appreciate a sound you may not be familiar with. No matter how much practice goes into a set, I will never understand how they can play for so long without any vocals, knowing when to stop and start a new verse.
Frontman Adam Granduciel punches through the United Center with his Bob Dylan-esque voice paired with electrifying guitar skills that will either make you want to pick up a guitar or discourage you from ever trying to master an instrument ever again. With six others accompanying him on stage, they rocked through songs like “Strangest Thing,” “Red Eyes,” “Lost in the Dream,” and “Under the Pressure.” There was an obvious joining of niche fan groups as I observed many people go as hard for The War On Drugs as they did for The National –these types of concert go-ers are professionals. I’m talkin’ poster tubes with the strap, no layers if standing in the pit, subtle yet intentional merch outfits, their children in merch and wearing headphones… I could go on.
As their technicolor set was far underway, Granduciel and his band were really in the zone. They were like aliens taking us to a far and distant star, and when the lights settled, they were humans again, constantly thanking the audience for their warm applause and organized rowdiness. They make you want to close your eyes and sway (but you wouldn’t dare miss their lighting and stage design), and they will leave you with your ears happily ringing and a reminder to invest in some earplugs.
Wrapping up The War On Drugs set – enter The National, Matt Berninger in his black blazer and large black frames, walks out with the rest of his band to the build-up of Talking Heads’ song “Slippery People.” They smash into their set with Sea of Love, at first he sounds off, but isn’t that what makes him good? When he’s flailing around screaming, looking helpless in the most theatrical way possible, I feel at home with the band. The arena is roaring, yelling back at him as he eggs them on, miming out the song, singing, “If I stay here trouble will find me,” and “Hey Joe, sorry I hurt you. They say love is a virtue, don’t they?”
As the set continues, it’s funny to watch Berninger’s performance persona burst out when a song begins. After the song would end, he wouldn’t talk much and often would pace around acting bashful as if he wasn’t just screaming, “I won’t fuck us over I’m Mr. November,” over and over again.
Berninger would pace the entire stage, corner to corner, until he’d almost fall off the edge. Once he almost fell off stage after mistaking one of the stage lights to be stable. Embarrassed that he had messed it up, he often moved them around himself during a show, pointing them directly at the crowd. At one point I thought to myself, “Thank God he doesn’t have a wireless mic, he’d run around the whole arena!” Well, he made it all the way up to the lower bowl, during “Graceless,” stepping over, falling, and crawling around the crowd, laughing hysterically, asking for help up in the mic.
The show was one of the most entertaining and engaging shows I had ever been to. The band seemed to have fully manifested during “ The System Only Dreams in Total Darkness,” as the crowd was entirely responsive and exploded in excitement during the chorus. Lucious came out to support the band during “Ryland,” singing the infamous background vocals that make the song whole. The duet’s powerful voices mimicked the originals almost perfectly, making the song a real treat to hear live.
As I watched how the band moved together and observed each other, I couldn’t help but compare it to a well oiled circus. You have identical twins, Aaron and Bryce Dresner, mirroring each other and wheeling their guitars around, surrounding the ring leader, Berninger, as he would throw full drinks in the air and not even turn to watch where they’d crash down or, go insane during classics like “Bloodbuzz Ohio” and “Lemonworld.” During their encore, “About Today,” was a super extended, abstract, and aggressive piece off towards the song’s end with people jumping around and headbanging. Usually, that is a sit-at-home alone and cry kind of song.
A ticket to see The National hate to see me coming. I will always make an effort to see them in concert. Being my second time seeing them, it blew me away all over again.They closed out the show with the sentimental “Fake Empire,” and then added the perfect bookend to the encore with an acoustic “Vanderlyle Crybaby Geeks.” You could still hear Berninger’s voice clearly, echoing through the United Center as he sang in unison with all the fans in attendance.
What an exciting experience! Thank you for allowing me to escape through your journey for a while. Could almost feel that guitar playing inside my mind!