The National: Sunshine on My B&Ck

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I bought it for my girlfriend last year, but didn't roll it over :(

Gump would you mind copy-pasting the details? Might help us decide if we want to re-up :lol:
 
Here is the track list. Not sure if it is legible, but it says the show was recorded in Denver.

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Watched the full live show from the Sydney Opera House a few days ago as an iso-treat. So worth it... everything wonderful about the band snapshotted in this performance. The Trouble Will Find Me songs translate so well live
 
I like the solo album. It's really chill, which seems appropriate for an album made without your full backing band. Standouts on first listen include Distant Axis, Silver Springs, and All For Nothing.
 
Yeah, chill is right. I like it too. Quite different than his El Vy album as well. The title track was my favorite on first listen.
 
If you didn't know Matt was behind it, Serpentine Prison could easily pass for a Tindersticks album. Which I mean as a compliment. The languid pace is what I'm feeling especially.
 
Did anyone get the new vinyl reissues of the first three albums/EP? I didn't double dip for Sad Songs, but got the self-titled and Cherry Tree. These editions are so pretty (Cherry Tree, in particular).

From reddit:

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The self-titled is better than what I remembered. I'm not saying it is great or anything, but it has nice moments. Son is a wonderful song. I also like hearing the embryonic version of Slow Show (my favorite National song), but damn, did they improve on that over the years.
 
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Feels like there's been, like, three or four different re-releases of these records in the last couple of years.

Theory of the Crows is the best track on the debut. It's like an inferior David Berman record. From Sad Songs onwards they killed it though.
 
Those club pressings are already going for over $150. The special edition vinyl market is more of a racket every day.
 
Yeah, I agree. It's becoming like the card collecting hobby with some of these small batches. The Cherry Tree boxsets may have become my most valuable vinyl possession (surpassing a random Jamiroquai record I bought in the early-00s when I had just started buying vinyl).

I thought about you, cobbler, when I saw the Kapputt special edition announcement.
 
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I don't like the setlists they're playing at the moment, it's a shame to see such little I Am Easy to Find. Em and I had front row tickets to see three of those shows, and then COVID happened, and now they've forgotten it exists. Still, glad you enjoyed it! Any highlights amongst the newer tracks?
 
Fantastic show last night, they played 3 or 4 new songs (all good). I was roughly 6 inches away from Matt Beringer at one point during the show, having a high school friend be the person responsible for all the booking of a concert series has its perks! Thought a lot about this forum and all of you who love the band during the show.

https://www.setlist.fm/setlist/the-national/2022/ogden-amphitheater-ogden-ut-23b390ff.html



That sounds awesome. I’m miffed that they aren’t playing NYC this tour, and secretly hoping it means they have another There Is No Leaving NY festival in the works.
 
That sounds awesome. I’m miffed that they aren’t playing NYC this tour, and secretly hoping it means they have another There Is No Leaving NY festival in the works.



Shoulda bought a ticket to the Capitol Theatre show. That place is fantastic and Metro North is pretty easy
 
Fantastic show last night, they played 3 or 4 new songs (all good). I was roughly 6 inches away from Matt Beringer at one point during the show, having a high school friend be the person responsible for all the booking of a concert series has its perks! Thought a lot about this forum and all of you who love the band during the show.

https://www.setlist.fm/setlist/the-national/2022/ogden-amphitheater-ogden-ut-23b390ff.html

That sounds great. I have a ticket to the Red Rocks show in Sept although I am sort of weirdly dreading it just because RR is such a hassle and my last experiences there with the audience were not as good as in the before times when people weren't such assholes and RR was always a guaranteed amazing experience. The National was the last show I saw just before the pandemic and it was a smaller venue than they usually play and was not even close to sold out, which was bizarre, so we had great seats. Matt came slithering through the audience right up to where we were, and it was great fun, but his voice was shot from the get-go. How did he sound?

cobl—I, too, liked I Am Easy to Find a lot but those songs did not play that well when I saw that tour, just because the audience didn't know them and so they did what assholes in the US do during songs they don't know.

I have been to a few shows this year and the only one where the audience was absolutely fantastic was Sigur Rós. It has been disheartening to say the least.
 
Joyful [emoji7]

I hear you on people being a-holes post pandemic. Did we all collectively forget basic manners while staying home during lockdowns?

In other news, looks like The National are about to announce a new song. These posters have been seen around NYC:

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That sounds great. I have a ticket to the Red Rocks show in Sept although I am sort of weirdly dreading it just because RR is such a hassle and my last experiences there with the audience were not as good as in the before times when people weren't such assholes and RR was always a guaranteed amazing experience. The National was the last show I saw just before the pandemic and it was a smaller venue than they usually play and was not even close to sold out, which was bizarre, so we had great seats. Matt came slithering through the audience right up to where we were, and it was great fun, but his voice was shot from the get-go. How did he sound?

cobl—I, too, liked I Am Easy to Find a lot but those songs did not play that well when I saw that tour, just because the audience didn't know them and so they did what assholes in the US do during songs they don't know.

I have been to a few shows this year and the only one where the audience was absolutely fantastic was Sigur Rós. It has been disheartening to say the least.

Joyful [emoji7]

I hear you on people being a-holes post pandemic. Did we all collectively forget basic manners while staying home during lockdowns?

I'm interested to hear a bit more about these arseholes you're experiencing - what do they do? Where else have you both experienced it recently? I saw Gang of Youths the other night and was surrounded by plenty - having full-blown conversations and laughs during songs, going off to get beer, yelling shit at the band. (I know the beer thing is a bit unfair, pretty normal thing to do, but I have never gone to get a drink during a show, not once, I just don't get it personally.)
 
The National: Sunshine on My B&Ck

I'm interested to hear a bit more about these arseholes you're experiencing - what do they do? Where else have you both experienced it recently? I saw Gang of Youths the other night and was surrounded by plenty - having full-blown conversations and laughs during songs, going off to get beer, yelling shit at the band. (I know the beer thing is a bit unfair, pretty normal thing to do, but I have never gone to get a drink during a show, not once, I just don't get it personally.)



Basically that. People are being more inconvenient than before - I remember an annoying dude heckling Cassandra Jenkins all show, including during quiet and emotional moments like Ambiguous Norway. Adrienne Lenker also posted something about how disrespectful people were with the opener in their shows, basically loud nonstop chatting (are people also louder now? Seems that way). People also seem to be annoyingly drunk/high more often. Not to mention the whole not masking at shows thing throughout the pandemic (even like a year and a half ago when concerts were starting again).
 
That sounds great. I have a ticket to the Red Rocks show in Sept although I am sort of weirdly dreading it just because RR is such a hassle and my last experiences there with the audience were not as good as in the before times when people weren't such assholes and RR was always a guaranteed amazing experience.

I'd say you should definitely still do it! They sounded great and seemed really happy to be touring again. Not sure what Denver will be like, but the crowd was great at my show. I got in a huge conversation with random strangers in line about prior National albums and concerts, I was honestly surprised everyone standing near me were such big fans.
 
I'd say you should definitely still do it! They sounded great and seemed really happy to be touring again. Not sure what Denver will be like, but the crowd was great at my show. I got in a huge conversation with random strangers in line about prior National albums and concerts, I was honestly surprised everyone standing near me were such big fans.

Thanks, mofo. I plan on doing it, barring some apocalyptic weather situation, but I find I am having to really psyche myself up to do RR again. But because The National have only great songs, and because I adore the Dessner brothers, I must go.

I even, god help me, watched the entire six hours of their performance of Sorrow that they put up on youtube for pandemic entertainment. (Does everyone know what I'm talking about? Forgive me for not scrolling back to see.) I sat on my couch and watched Sorrow over and over and over for six hours and, in solidarity with the band who did not stop playing during the filming of that performance piece, I did not leave the couch. Not for water, not for food, not to pee. Six hours of Sorrow. And it was fucking amazing. And cathartic.

cobl—in answer to your question: yeah, it's what gump said. It's rock & roll, and people will get drunk, spill beer on you, talk during the show, block your view etc etc. This has always been true, but it just seems so much worse now. The drunk girls with the flailing limbs smacking me in the head repeatedly at the Belle & Sebastian show, people at Beach House not wearing masks when the virus was raging here, the two huge guys who ran down front from their seats in the back to completely block my sweet 5th row aisle seat view at The Shins show, only to shout in each other's ears through the entire show, not interested in the music at all ... the entitlement is infuriating. Of course I'm lucky to see some great shows, and that's what I'll remember. The reverential Chicago audience at the Sigur Rós show did at least renew my faith in humanity for awhile.
 
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I even, god help me, watched the entire six hours of their performance of Sorrow that they put up on youtube for pandemic entertainment. (Does everyone know what I'm talking about? Forgive me for not scrolling back to see.) I sat on my couch and watched Sorrow over and over and over for six hours and, in solidarity with the band who did not stop playing during the filming of that performance piece, I did not leave the couch. Not for water, not for food, not to pee. Six hours of Sorrow. And it was fucking amazing. And cathartic.


Believe it or not, a vinyl box set of that entire performance exists. It’s called “A Lot of Sorrow.”
 
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