A footnote: Keep eyes and ears out for a recorded pairing of Lymbyc Systym and This Will Destroy You later this year when Magic Bullet Records releases “Field Studies”, which will feature three new Lymbyc tracks alongside two new ones from TWDY. Magic Bullet also plans to re-release LS’s self-released 2005 EP “Carved By Glaciers” with new artwork and remixes. Good news all around.

Mp3s: The National live in Mansfield, MA

Posted on September 4, 2008 at 7:54 am | No Comments

In interviews since their opening slot on REM‘s North American tour over the summer, the National have unsurprisingly had nothing but good things to say about their treatment by the headliners, and having spotted Mike Mills at stage left, enthusiastically bobbing his head to the band’s late-evening set at the Great ComTweetWoods Center in June, it looks like they weren’t just hosts, but real fans. And what a treat it must have been to see Matt Berninger & co. night after night. This was my third time seeing them in four years, and it was in sun-showered contrast to the previous small-club shows (TT the Bears in 2005 and Paddy O’s last fall) — even though many seats remained empty while REM fans streamed in, it was still a larger crowd in total than both of those previous area shows combined. You could spot us punctual National fans easily, and so could the band, dedicating one of the late-set songs to an enthusiastic girl near the front.

While the large venue promised the opposite of intimacy, my choice seat, the setting sun, and the band’s flawless performances of songs I hold dear ended up impressing me even more than I’d expect. I didn’t assume their set would measure up to those other sweaty, shoulder-to-shoulder shows I’d seen, but it did. They’d made efforts to mix things up for the tour, both obvious (adding two horns and a bassoon player) and subtle (new drum hits during the “Mistaken for Strangers” intro), and didn’t let the cavernous environs dull their energy — Violinist/keyboardist Padme Newsome was absolutely on fire, the build-up of “Brainy” was more frenetic than ever, and Berninger powerfully bellowed “I WON’T FUCK US OVER!” through the massive sound system during “Mr. November“. I especially appreciated the set selection, which included moodier pieces that lured the audience in, bringing up the energy occasionally, then easing us back with “Fake Empire” just before pummeling us on the way out. Glorious.

Here’s my recording of their set, with some noteworthy links below…

The National

Live at Great Woods
in Mansfield, MA
on Friday, June 13th, 2008

01. Start a War
02. Brainy
03. Baby, We’ll Be Fine
04. Slow Show
05. Mistaken for Strangers
06. Squalor Victoria
07. Racing Like a Pro
08. Apartment Story
09. Fake Empire
10. Mr. November

Some National links…

Info: Their official site, MySpace page, Wikipedia entry, and their Beggars label page.

Additional Audio: Sadly the band has removed the three older Mp3s they had shared at their own site, and Beggars doesn’t have any available either, but you can still stream songs at MySpace, of course. The 2007 DC show that NPR shared is also still available to stream here.

Video: There’s a YouTube clip of the band performing what may be their first new post-Boxer song, “A Thousand Black Cities“, in Copenhagen last month. Links to all of their “proper” vids can be found here, as well as through a National YouTube search.

Photos: My Flickr-hosted shots are here, or have a look through a full National Flickr tag search.

Hope: An edited, instrumental version of “Fake Empire” has been used in a new Barack Obama campaign ad, which you can watch while sporting your Obama-fundraising “Mr. November” t-shirt.

Upcoming live dates: The band is taking it (relatively) easy this fall after a road-heavy summer, with just a handful of scattered shows, including two west coast stops later this month, an NY show in October, and a trio of dates in Brazil before they hit the November 8th Fun Fun Fun Fest in Austin. And here’s hoping that fest is extra fun-fun-fun because Obama wins on November 4th. Celebration over commiseration.

Easily stream to any and all ‘Nac-hosted Mp3s at the Hype Machine.

the fine print… If anyone has an issue with these Mp3s being made available, just let me know (my contact info in the ‘nac faq). Live sets recorded with a Sony ECM-719 mic and a Sony MZ-RH10 minidisc, converted to .wav and then edited to 192kbps Mp3s. Files are made available for a limited time, and are not reposted once removed.