6/26, Los Angeles: The National tore it up at their sold out El Rey show last night. Plowing through 90 minutes worth of tracks culled from their 5-album career, the sextet's show seemed to be a late bloomer, like the band themselves. The NYC-by-way-of-Cincy indie act has been building a devoted (extremely devoted, as evidenced by the energetic crowd) audience over the last few years. Their latest LP, The Boxer, is a favorite of critics and indie rockers alike. Often sounding like an American New Order (minus the dance) crossed with My Morning Jacket (minus the falsetto), their set included one too many slow jams, but more than made up for it with some ear-crushing dual guitar sonic crescendoes at the end of the night. The violinist bounces back and forth between playing a melody and supplying an extra rhythm instrument, but by the finale, he chucked his bow and played the thing like a tiny little electric guitar. Fists were pumping, lyrics were being screamed, hands were furiously clapping. It was that kind of night.
Openers The Broken West, from L.A., are pleasantly rockin', sounding like Summer Teeth-era Wilco.
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Damn straight they tore it up. They can't come back soon enough. Usually after seeing a band live, no matter how good they are, I don't listen to the CDs for a while, because I've had my fill and been satiated. Not with these guys. 'Boxer' and 'Alligator' are still on continuous repeat, as they have been for months.
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