For more than 15 years The National have cornered the trendy alternative dad rock market (if you weren’t a dad when you started listening to them, back when they were championed by Barack Obama, there’s a strong chance you are now).
They have even taken to leaning into this persistent description, with ‘Sad Dad’ merchandise for sale on their current tour. The self deprecation is part of the act, along with the Carhartt jackets and New Balance trainers.
But The National’s longevity and consistency hasn’t given way to complacency when on stage or in the studio. A week after dropping a surprise album – Laugh Track – the Ohio rockers rounded off the UK leg of their European tour on Wednesday night with the second of two sold out nights at Alexandra Palace.
It’s a testament to their substantial back catalogue that guitarist and producer Aaron Dessner was able to inform the expectant audience that the band would not repeat any songs from their previous night. Cue some minor trepidation among the crowd. And across an endurance-testing 29 songs (lasting close to two and a half hours) there was no Mistaken For Strangers, This System Only Dreams, Fake Empire, Mr November, Demons or Don’t Swallow the Cap.
For a lesser band these would all be glaring omissions. But The National’s decision to eschew the classics gave space for deeper cuts such as the lesser heard Murder Me Rachael, Geese of Beverly Road and Grease in your Hair.
The only wobble in their extensive tracklist came as the gig entered its final half hour. One too many obscure choices, all a bit low on the tempo, had some in the crowd checking their phones before bespectacled lead singer Matt Berninger grabbed the audience back with the slow burn of Carin at the Liquor Store followed by Rylan.
The main set closed with a euphoric Graceless, one of the standout tracks on 2013’s Trouble will Find Me. Berninger, who had been flirting with the front rows of the crowd throughout the concert, finally committed himself, wading into the mass of the crowd, the crew behind him frantically feeding him more mic lead.
The encore began on a more sombre note, with the one-two punch of Light Years and Send for Me. The band didn’t have much energy left after such a lengthy show and Terrible Love drained the last few drops they could muster.
They closed, exhausted and to adulation, with About Today. They’ve been at the top of their game for well over a decade, and the sad dads still want more. Even 150 minutes isn’t enough.
