The National contributed greatly to the Vive Latino festival in Mexico City. The Brooklyn band performed a relatively short (13 songs) though intense set-list on the evening of Sunday April 10.
In the end, the elegance of the Ohio’s original quintet captivated the audience, even when conditions in this case appeared not ideal. For one, the Vive Latino festival is aimed towards Spanish speaking bands and the audience for the most part seemed initially foreign to The National’s music. However, as I for one have seen before, exactly as it happened to me almost 5 years ago when I saw them for the first time, it took only a couple of tunes for the Mexican audience to realize the caliber of music and performance that the band led by Matt Berninger can deliver.
For the most part the band focused on songs from High Violet, opening their show with “Anyone’s Ghost” and closing the night with “Terrible Love”. “Bloodbuzz Ohio”, “Afraid of Everyone”, “Conversation 16” and “England” completed this group. “Sorrow”, certainly a song that a lot of the fans were hoping to hear was sadly not included in the set-list. As usual, the band included tunes from previous albums some that have shaped some of us into loyal The National followers. Emotionally intense songs from Boxer such as “Fake Empire” and “Slow Show” along with “Squalor Victoria” and “Mistaken for Strangers” blended well with the powerful in-your-face “Mr. November”, “Abel” and “Secret Meeting” from Alligator.
For me, it was the 9th time, but the excitement and expectation remained as if it was the first time I hear them live. This time the company of the entire MUSICAL SOULMATE crew made this, a very special show. Even to a well-established fan like me, The National message is consistent, and everytime it ends up making a lot of sense why I consider them my favorite band. At the same time, it is a great pleasure to look at people’s faces after the show, some with that strange look of joy and discovery. Whenever I see that I just smile, look into their eyes an think to myself “I know…”.
This time, I leave you with a clip from their performance at the Vive Latino Festival and also another video of “Sorrow”. The latter, dedicated to those that are now looking forward to seeing this band again, and why not, at least 9 times.
Enjoy,
MM
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