The National - Trouble Will Find Anthony Fantano

The friendliest place on the web for anyone that follows U2.
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
See posts with no answers
I got to see them for the first time at the Greek Theatre in LA this past weekend. They FAR exceeded my expectations. They're rapidly becoming one of my favorite bands.

Here was the setlist:

I Should Live in Salt
Don't Swallow the Cap
Bloodbuzz Ohio
Sorrow
Sea of Love
Demons
Afraid of Everyone
Conversation 16
Squalor Victoria
I Need My Girl
This Is the Last Time
Slipped
Baby, We'll Be Fine
Abel
Slow Show
Pink Rabbits
Graceless
England
About Today
Fake Empire

Encore:
Humiliation
Mr. November
Terrible Love
Vanderlyle Crybaby Geeks
(Acoustic)
 
So, they've now done a lot of the late night shows:

Jimmy Fallon - Sea of Love (off-air: I Need My Girl)
David Letterman - Don't Swallow the Cap
Stephen Colbert - Graceless
Jimmy Kimmel - Graceless, This Is the Last Time (off-air: Don't Swallow the Cap, Sea of Love, Pink Rabbits)
Conan O'Brien - This Is the Last Time

I also read that they have filmed and will soon be releasing a video for Graceless.
 
I didn't really think This Is the Last Time worked very well as a tv performance song.
 
I didn't either, but I guess they didn't want to play one they'd already played and they can't play Demons because he says "fuck."
 
AEON said:
Yeah - it was okay. So far, Graceless on Colbert is my fav of their TV show performances for this album.
Click to expand...

No fair, as good as this is the last time is, it would have to be a pretty shitty version of graceless for that song to even compete.


That Barclays boot is the first time I've listened to a bootleg all the way through in ages. What a fantastic set. Pink rabbits has officially grown on me.
 
IWasBored said:
No fair, as good as this is the last time is, it would have to be a pretty shitty version of graceless for that song to even compete.
Click to expand...
lol - true.

IWasBored said:
That Barclays boot is the first time I've listened to a bootleg all the way through in ages. What a fantastic set. Pink rabbits has officially grown on me.
Click to expand...
Interesting - that's the only song on the new album that hasn't grown on me yet. I thought the live version at the Greek was decent, but not enough to bring the song to life for me.
 
I love Pink Rabbits as a lyric and piano piece, but I think Matt struggles a bit with whatever register it is he is singing in. This is especially apparent in live versions.
 
His voice is fine in the studio version. Still my favourite song from the record, the ending is out of this world.
 
djerdap said:
His voice is fine in the studio version. Still my favourite song from the record, the ending is out of this world.
Click to expand...

Sounds like I just need to keep listening...

Sometimes, the last song I "get" becomes the next To Here Know When.
 
I thought (and still somewhat do, although I'm coming around) it was pretty lackluster and entirely too long/repetitive on the album. Whereas a live version where Matt doesn't sound like he's singing in the right key at all is far more appealing to me.
 
djerdap said:
His voice is fine in the studio version.
Click to expand...

I agree. Definitely one of my favs. I liked it a lot when they played it here, but agree with iYup that his voice has sounded a bit off on versions of it I've seen on Youtube. Maybe he sounded like that here, but I was too happy to notice. Maybe not. I don't know.
 
The biggest problem he has is that, as with most people with lower registers, he doesn't project well. Which means he spends much of his live performances trying to amp up the volume on his voice, which both lessens the texture of his baritone and wears his voice out so that his voice is mostly gone by two-thirds of the way through the concert. There are almost no good live versions of Mr. November vocally because his voice is usually shot by the time they play it in a typical set.

Watching the Graceless they played on Kimmel the other night is a particularly good example. Compare that to, say, the Graceless they did on the Barclays bootleg. He's just straining so much more on the latter because he's been fighting it for 16 or 17 songs at that point.

The funny thing is that both approaches, the tough but haunted baritone of the records and the exhausted, shattered baritone live both make sense with the songs. They're slightly different angles, but they're clearly the same narrator.
 
PhilsFan said:
The biggest problem he has is that, as with most people with lower registers, he doesn't project well. Which means he spends much of his live performances trying to amp up the volume on his voice, which both lessens the texture of his baritone and wears his voice out so that his voice is mostly gone by two-thirds of the way through the concert. There are almost no good live versions of Mr. November vocally because his voice is usually shot by the time they play it in a typical set.

Watching the Graceless they played on Kimmel the other night is a particularly good example. Compare that to, say, the Graceless they did on the Barclays bootleg. He's just straining so much more on the latter because he's been fighting it for 16 or 17 songs at that point.

The funny thing is that both approaches, the tough but haunted baritone of the records and the exhausted, shattered baritone live both make sense with the songs. They're slightly different angles, but they're clearly the same narrator.
Click to expand...

:likebutton:

A couple songs about halfway through the bootleg I thought the vocals were intentional, until it got to somewhere about graceless. It does work, and I enjoy a song like pink rabbits more when it has a worn-out ragged vocal, the album just kind of sounds bored to me. But it's not so great that it's because he's beaten up his voice by that point in a set list.
 
PhilsFan said:
The biggest problem he has is that, as with most people with lower registers, he doesn't project well. Which means he spends much of his live performances trying to amp up the volume on his voice, which both lessens the texture of his baritone and wears his voice out so that his voice is mostly gone by two-thirds of the way through the concert. There are almost no good live versions of Mr. November vocally because his voice is usually shot by the time they play it in a typical set.

Watching the Graceless they played on Kimmel the other night is a particularly good example. Compare that to, say, the Graceless they did on the Barclays bootleg. He's just straining so much more on the latter because he's been fighting it for 16 or 17 songs at that point.

The funny thing is that both approaches, the tough but haunted baritone of the records and the exhausted, shattered baritone live both make sense with the songs. They're slightly different angles, but they're clearly the same narrator.
Click to expand...

I raised something along these lines a while back, based on my limited observations, and everyone said they noticed nothing of the sort, I was completely wrong, etc etc.
 
Kieran McConville said:
I raised something along these lines a while back, based on my limited observations, and everyone said they noticed nothing of the sort, I was completely wrong, etc etc.
Click to expand...

Right now it seems The National has done everyting right. They've made 4 fantastic albums in a row and have had just enough commercial success to sustain a career - without sacrificing their souls to become radio darlings (if that is possible with them).

They know their audience - and they seem to know how far they can stretch and still be true to who they are. If I were in a band - I would want to be exactly where they are - perfectly balancing their artistic integrity with semi-popular success. That being said - I hope they go away for awhile and "dream it all up again" for the next record.
 
Oh I've no quibble with their integrity, I was only referring to the thing about Matt's vocals not really projecting in the live setting (which as noted by others isn't some awful failing of his, it's just the way it rolls).

I'm not sure that they will be around for that many more years though. The odd interviews leave the impression that it might be one more record and bye-bye, just based on how they're feeling themselves.
 
Kieran McConville said:
I'm not sure that they will be around for that many more years though. The odd interviews leave the impression that it might be one more record and bye-bye, just based on how they're feeling themselves.
Click to expand...

I would rather they quit at their peak than have a decade long decline. They've cemented their legacy.
 
Kieran McConville said:
I raised something along these lines a while back, based on my limited observations, and everyone said they noticed nothing of the sort, I was completely wrong, etc etc.
Click to expand...
You said something about how Matt "wasn't there" live. My post, while nothing the vocal differences, quite clearly says that both his live voice and studio voice are quite effective at getting the songs across.
 
Kieran McConville said:
I raised something along these lines a while back, based on my limited observations, and everyone said they noticed nothing of the sort, I was completely wrong, etc etc.
Click to expand...

Eh? Read it again dude. I've acknowledged he has weaker vocal performances and that he has his ups and downs. Nobody told you "you were completely wrong".
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

C
Hello from the Twin Cities!
Replies
3
Views
777
trevgreg
trevgreg
dan_smee
I listened to No Line on the Horizon right through tonight for the first time in about 10 years…
2 3
Replies
83
Views
2K
lazarus
lazarus
Janet H
  • Sticky
Forum Update - We're back! Ask your questions here.
2
Replies
36
Views
2K
Popmartijn
Popmartijn
O
Better late than never “they” say…
Replies
1
Views
277
Headache in a Suitcase
Headache in a Suitcase
N
NBA 2023-24 Thread
10 11 12
Replies
333
Views
10K
Headache in a Suitcase
Headache in a Suitcase

Latest posts

Back
Top Bottom