if Carlsberg made drummers
They would probably produce Bryan Devendorf of The National.
- Plays the drums barefooted.
- Takes the demo tapes and composes the drum sections.
- Writes intelligently.
- Drums immaculately.
- Performs his own, separate soundhcheck.
All things considered, I'm very glad I'll be witnessing The National live again at the Brixton Academy on Wednesday 1 December.
The National - Royal Albert Hall
After weeks of anticipation, the day finally dawned - Thursday 6 May and The National's concert at the Royal Albert Hall.
I've been to the Albert Hall once before when I went to see Cirque de Soleil. On that occasion, I was wearing a jacket and tie (family birthday) and was perched precariously in the upper circle which gave me vertigo.
I had some reservations about seeing a proper concert here and had disconcerting images of posh people in dinner jackets, sitting down, politely applauding an acoustic set. Anyway, I got the tube to High St. Kensington, stopped off at the Goat Tavern for a quick drink en route.and then made my way to the famous venue next to Imperial College.
I had a brilliant seat down in the stalls to the left of the stage and thankfully although there were a few city types in suits, I didn't spot any dinner jackets or bow ties. As we waited for the band, I heard two blokes talking loudly about the logistics of getting a taxi afterwards and watched people queuing for Hagen Das ice-cream. Who said 'Rock'n'Roll' was dead ?
At 9:15pm, the various band members took the stage and opened with 'Mistaken for Strangers'. Thankfully, I think Matt sensed the slightly subdued, reserved atmosphere and came forward, urging everyone to stand up which immediately made for a much better time for everyone.
The National don't travel light on tour. The band is formed of two pairs of brothers; Aaron and Bryce Dessner (guitars), Bryan (drums) and Scott Devendorf (bass) together with with singer Matt Berninger. In addition, Padma Newsome plays violin, keyboards and, at one point,some sort of accordion contraption. The ensemble is completed by a brass section (trumpet, trombone).
Occasionally, I've tried to pinpoint why I like The National so much and the two main factors are Bryan Devendorf's metronomic, unceasing, crisp drumming (which is usually high in the mix) and Matt's thought provoking, ambiguous lyrics.
As the crowd became more appreciative and vocal, the band proceeded with a brilliant set throwing in old favourites from 'Alligator' and 'Boxer' together with most of the songs from the yet to be released 'High Violet'.
Matt joked about the cavernous and imposing size of the venue ('I wrote this song in a small room like this') and then proceeded to forget the lyrics to 'Baby - we'll be fine'. He tried again before the band aborted the attempt and moved on to 'Afraid of Everyone' ('Don't worry - this is a new one and I know the lyrics').
Not surprisingly, the acoustics and sound was brilliant although a neighbour also wanted to 'turn the drums up' and the band performed two of my favourite songs ; Conversation 16' and 'Apartment Story'. Like most of Matt's lyrics, 'Conservation 16' can be interpreted in many different ways. It sounds like a love song ('You're the only thing I ever want anymore') but then savagely turns into a loveless, broken, hate-filled relationship ('I was afraid I'd eat your brains Cause I'm evil').
It's clear the band are musical perfectionists - in recent interviews the band make it clear the production process is slow, iterative and laborious and scrupulous attention is paid to every last detail. To be honest, although I like 'High Violet', I do find some songs rather bleak; 'Sorrow' in particular. In fact, at times, you find yourself reaching for Joy Division's 'Closer' in an effort to lighten the mood. However, some of the 'High Violet' material which left me lukewarm was completely transformed when performed live ('England').
Also, although I absolutely love the song, I find the lo-fi mix of 'Terrible Love' on 'High Violet' so ropey I can hardly bring myself to listen to it. Again, I read in interviews that Matt wanted to cut out all the shouting (e.g. 'Abel' on 'Alligator') and the band were also keen to create a less polished production than on 'Boxer'. Personally, I think the production and quality of 'Boxer' was so immaculate, so perfect I would have used the same studio, the same producer, the same instruments and worn the same lucky underpants.
However, Aaron seemed to deliberately favour the raw, unpolished version of 'Terrible Love'; in fact, he acknowledges that, even after the weeks of mixing, some completed 'High Violet' tracks are very close to the original demo tapes.
Anyway, back to the concert and the band closed with 'Fake Empire' and returned to the stage for a magnificent encore comprising:
- Vanderlyle Cry Baby Geeks - one of the lighter, more accessible songs from 'High Violet'.
- All the Wine - one of my all time favourite National songs musically and lyrically.
- Mr November - Matt went walkabout way out into the lower circle for this one.
- Terrible Love - superb with all the additional musical elements.
- About Today - the only song I had never heard before - an extended guitar jam slowly building to a cresendo.
It was weird hearing 'Mr. November' which was used in Barack Obama's presidential campaign on election day in Britain and hearing hundreds of people screaming in unison:
I'm the new blue blood
I'm the great white hope.
I'm the new blue blood.
I won't fuck us over, I'm Mr. November.
I'm Mr. November, I won't fuck us over.
I didn't bother taking any day tripper, tourist photos but David Emery has some fantastic photos of an unforgettable night.
The National - Royal Albert Hall
One of my favourite bands is American beat combo - The National. I will forever be indebted to Michael for introducing me to the band.
Yesterday, I received an email that said a handful of tickets for the sold out gig at the Royal Albert Hall on 6 May in London would be going on sale today at 3pm. These tickets were originally 'being held for lighting, sound and film equipment (for a possible filming of the performance) that we have decided to pull.'
I didn't hold out much hope but am delighted to say I have just secured a ticket.
The National have a new album 'High Violet' coming out on May 11. It's rather difficult (and pointless) trying to categorise the band's music (try listening to 'Boxer' yourself) but I really like Matt Berninger's voice and lyrics.
There's a free download of 'Bloodbuzz Ohio' available and here's a video of my favourite song, 'Terrible Love' (also from 'High Violet').
the most embarrassing night of my life
Working title: the dangers of Facebook, online dating, stranger danger and gross stupidity
The (now defunct) Chameleons remain one of my favourite bands but were responsible for the most embarrassing night of my life.
After the band reformed, I went to their London gigs and occasionally frequented the (now defunct) Wishville forums for discussion about the band, concert reviews, banter about football, discovering new bands - all the usual stuff we did before Twitter and Last.fm came along.
In November 2002. The Chameleons played a single date in London before a German tour. As I had struck up a friendship with a like minded individual on Wishville (liked footy, liked The Chameleons, liked a laugh) and exchanged messages with him, we arranged to meet up for a drink in Camden before going on to the gig.
Mark Burgess is a City fan, so he'd arranged the gig deliberately to clash with United playing Bayer Leverkeusen in the Champions League so I'd hoped to see most of the game before going to the venue.
Anyway, we exchanged mobile phone numbers, exchanged descriptions and arranged to meet in an Irish pub (public bar) that was showing the football. I didn't tell my Mummy in case she was worried about me meeting a strange man I'd recently met on the Interweb.
Inevitably, something screwed up on the night mainly because we are blokes. I can't recall precisely what happened but someone had a flat battery, lost their phone or told their Mummy so I arrived at this hostelry and furtively tried to identify this gentleman from a (Wedding) photo he'd shown me.
To cut a long story short, I couldn't find him and he couldn't find me. Worse, the footy wasn't been shown in the Irish pub or rather, I think Arsenal was being shown instead of United, so I went elsewhere to watch the game.
After a few beers and United taking a 2-0 lead, I made my way to Dingwalls. Now, there was no way I was going to make contact with my 'Internet acquaintance' in a packed venue so I was quite prepared to enjoy the support (Brian Glancy), soak up the pre-match atmosphere, drinking overpriced lager while watching the technicians twiddle buttons on amps, place guitars on stands and say 'One Two - One Two' into microphones while waiting for The Chamleons to take the stage.
Unfortunately, as always, alcohol intervened and as I watched Glancy performing, I happened to see a young lady who was also a regular on Wishville. This young lady spent every spare minute and every spare quid on watching bands and had traipsed around Germany and the States following The Chameleons on tour.
Unfortunately, I only knew 'Cath' by reputation and only recognised her by virtue of her distinctive dyed red hair. While I enjoyed her superb gig reviews, we'd never communicated directly so I didn't know her and she certainly didn't know me.
I should have just left it well alone but for some reason I didn't and I approached a complete stranger (a female one at that) and memorably opened with: 'Hi Cath. Do you know where Joe is ?'
Cath Aubergine (for that was her rather unusual name) broke off her conversation with her mate, turned to me and replied: 'Sorry - what ? Joe who ? Who are you ?'. There may have been the odd expletive thrown in for good measure.
'Joe - I arranged to meet him here but....'
Blank stare. Her mate is also now looking at me with a similar blank stare. 27.4 seconds left before the 6'2" boyfriend returns from the bar with their drinks.
'Look - you know. Joe - Mr. Moto. Have you seen him ?'
'Oh Mister Moto - why didn't you say ? But what's your name ?'
'Andy.'
'Sorry - did you say 'Andy' ?' Another piercing, blank, suspicious stare. Times two.
'Look. I'm RomanTotaleXVII on the forums but my real name's Andy, alright'. Christ - the embarrassment levels were now excruciating as we were having to shout this conversation above the noise of Bryan Glancy's set.
'Oh so you're RomanTotaleXVII but hang on - you're not RomanTotaleXVII any more. You are now...'
'Yeah, yeah I know. I'm now FieryJack.'
'Yeah - you're the guy who names himself after The Fall characters. Well why didn't you just say so ?'
And so it came to pass - Cath Aubergine led me to the bar area and introduced me to Mr. Moto (aka Joe Donellan)
'Hey Joe - I've got someone who wants to meet you. Here he is - RomanTotaleXVII'.
press the eject and give me the tape
Those 2010 Brit Awards in full:
- British male solo artist - Dizzee Rascal
- British female solo artist - Lilly Allen
- British breakthrough act - JLS
- British group - Kasabian
- British Album - Florence & the Machine - Lungs
- British Single - Beat Again (JLS)
- International male solo artist - Jay-Z
- International female solo artist - Lady GaGa
- International album - Lady GaGa - The Fame
- Outstanding contribution to music - Robbie Williams
...and Liam Gallaher swearing and throwing a microphone into the audience. Who said rock'n'roll is dead ?
I bet Joe Strummer is turning in his grave.