The third and final show of my little American trip was the always wonderful and reliable The National. I have seen them live a few times but I always look forward to seeing them again. Especially as the planned 2020 Australian tour was canceled just as the pandemic hit us all. So on a warm Wednesday night in Minneapolis it was a pleasure to see them again. The venue was within walking distance of my hotel and was part of the Surly Brewing Company. There is an open air field for bands to play and it turned out pretty well. The sound was great and as the sun set the enthusiastic crowd lapped up the glorious sounds.

The National now have a substantial catalogue and they always try to cover a bit from most of it. Ideally I would love to hear more than just one song from my favourite in 'Alligator' but it's hard to get to everyone. Nonetheless the band played many crowd favourites and also three new songs that will be on a hopefully upcoming album. They are just a force live and Matt went into the crowd three times. It was all just pretty great. Encore was unbeatable. They played the new song they recorded with Bon Iver and the live staple 'Mr November'. Then the last two are just the best. 'Terrible Love' is just a beast live and 'About Today' is just so incredibly beautiful. What a pleasure it was to see this great band again. 

Set List

Don't Swallow the Cap

Mistaken for Strangers

Bloodbuzz Ohio

The System Only Dreams in Total Darkness

I Need My Girl

This is the Last Time

Slow Show

Ice Machines

Wasp Nest

This Isn't Helping

Conversation 16

Tropic Morning News

Day I Die

Rylan

Light Years

Pink Rabbits

England

Graceless

Fake Empire

Weird Goodbyes

Mr November

Terrible Love

About Today