The National bring unmatched intimacy to the Armory

The National performed at the Armory in Minneapolis on Wednesday, Aug. 9, 2023.Darin Kamnetz for MPR

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August 10, 2023

It was just 11 months ago that the National graced Minneapolis with their somber, melancholy presence. During their Surly Festival Field show in September, the band peppered in a few new songs off their upcoming album. In the months since, they released First Two Pages of Frankenstein. Wednesday night’s nearly sold-out Armory show was the first opportunity for many local fans to hear those songs in person.

The night’s opening act, the Beths, played Minneapolis even more recently. The Auckland, New Zealand-based four-piece — five, if you count the 12-foot-tall inflatable fish that joined them onstage. Their bubbly, straightforward garage pop provided a perfect upbeat bounce to counterbalance the gloomy, self-described “sad dad” headliners.

Lead vocalist Elizabeth Stokes’ bright, clean voice rose above the band’s distorted grime and grittiness. Guitarist Jonathan Pearce, bassist Benjamin Sinclair, and drummer Tristan Deck regularly chimed in to provide a crisp four-part harmony. There’s an inherent springiness to their sound that forces listeners to move, knowingly or not. It’s also impossible not to be immediately enchanted by them.

The Beths at the Armory — The Beths. The National performed at the Armory in Minneapolis on Wednesday, Aug. 9, 2023.
Darin Kamnetz for MPR

Stokes’ natural charm was further punctuated by her cheerful Kiwi accent. “Hello! We are the Beths, and we’re from Auckland, New Zealand. You all look great, and thank you for showing up early. I know you're excited to see the band the National. It's going to be great.”

That polite charm wasn’t limited to Stokes, though. When it came time for band introductions, they took turns. Stokes introduced Pearce, Pearce introduced Deck, Deck introduced Sinclair, and Sinclair finally brought it back to Stokes. Towards the end of their set, Stokes announced that they’d be packing up their merch at 9 p.m. because they had a four-hour drive ahead of them. That might not have sounded that long to the Midwestern sad dads, but remember that a four-hour drive in New Zealand is likely to end at the ocean. The Beths finished their set with an enthusiastic and jovial wave from each member. Their crew wasted no time deflating the fish as the crowd anxiously awaited the National.

Then the lights went dark. Pomme’s “Je Sais Pas Danser” blasted out into the Armory as the crowd erupted. The National’s gloomily charismatic vocalist Matt Berninger took his place front and slightly off-center as the first piano notes of First Two Pages of Frankenstein’s heartbreaking opener, “Once Upon a Poolside,” rang out. The rest of the band, twin brother guitarists Aaron and Bryce Dessner and brothers Scott (bass) and Bryan (drums) Devendorf, patiently awaited their cues. Touring members Ben Lanz and Kyle Resnick rounded out the lineup on keys, horns, and auxiliary percussion. As Berninger uttered the opening line (“Don’t make this any harder”), he put every ounce of the song’s emotional weight onto his microphone stand as if it was the only thing keeping him on his feet.

The National at the Armory — The National performed at the Armory in Minneapolis on Wednesday, Aug. 9, 2023.
Darin Kamnetz for MPR

The band faded into the second track off of Frankenstein, “Eucalyptus.” Watching Berninger work through this devastating break-up song was like witnessing a deeply personal one-man stage play. While many artists would’ve sung it to the crowd, with Berninger, there was no “to” about it. No, he laid bare his entire soul and sang it at the crowd in a passionate, raised voice that anyone who’s gone through a tough breakup immediately recognized. The crowd became part of his world at that moment, and it was as if he was convincing all of us to take his rainbow eucalyptus and Afghan Whigs CDs.

That deep connection with the audience was the theme of the night. Berninger spent nearly as much time on the floor with fans as on the stage — sometimes crowd surfing, other times merely existing amongst the crowd. During “Day I Die,” he took his crowd work to the next level, traversing through the thicket of bodies until he was nearly back at the merch tables. From there, he made his way back toward the stage before taking a detour up through the main floor balcony, finally climbing over the railing and clambering back onstage. All the while, Berninger embraced fans, grasping their hands as they shouted along with the final chorus of “Day I Die.” It was an incredibly special and intimate moment that’s rare to see in a room the Armory’s size.

Each time Berninger left the stage, the rest of the band more than filled the void. The Dessner twins’ guitar and piano work was gentle during all the most sincere, tender moments but quickly erupted into a massive wall of sound during the night’s many big crescendos. Those walls were built on the rock-solid foundation of the Devendorf brothers' rhythm section. Meanwhile, Lanz and Resnick’s horns cut through it all, providing emotional punctuation that further elevated each song’s weight.

By far, the most spectacular crescendo came during “Space Invaders,” an unreleased new song the band began playing recently. The song begins with only an acoustic guitar and Berninger’s deep baritone before building into a massive crescendo. Lyrically, the song asks a lot of “what ifs” (“What if I stayed on the C train until Lafayette? / What if we never met? / What if I only had done what you told me and never looked back?/ What if I'd never written the letter”) before answering: “It will come to me later, like a space invader.”

The National perform at the Armory — The National performed at the Armory in Minneapolis on Wednesday, Aug. 9, 2023.
Darin Kamnetz for MPR

All of the biggest crowd-pleasers — like “Bloodbuzz Ohio,” “The System Only Dreams in Total Darkness,” “Mr. November,” and, of course, “Fake Empire” — had their place throughout the two-hour-long set. But with a back catalog as deep as the National’s, many beloved songs inevitably get lost to time and fall out of rotation. For this tour, they’re sprinkling many of those forgotten favorites back into the fold.

“Sometimes we play songs that we haven't played in a while and remember that we really like playing them. So this is one of those,” explained Dessner (Aaron, that is) before “Slow Show.” Other lesser-played deep cuts included Sleep Well Beast’s “I’ll Still Destroy You,” and Trouble Will Find Me’s “Slipped.” The latter hasn’t been played live since 2014.

Closing out the National’s main set was Boxer’s hedonistic opening track, “Fake Empire.” As the last brassy notes rang out and the band took their leave, the crowd never let up on its roaring applause and cheering. After a few moments, they returned for a five-song encore that began with “Weird Goodbyes,” a 2022 single the National co-wrote with Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon. “Mr. November,” “Terrible Love,” and “About Today” provided ample opportunity for crowd participation and some final crescendoing swells.

As the final note of “About Today” rang out, both Dessners strapped on acoustic guitars while the Devendorf brothers emerged from behind their instruments. Lanz and Resnick joined them, horns in tow, at the front of the stage. Berninger took the microphone stand that had supported so much of his emotional weight throughout the night and placed it on the barricade between the stage and the crowd. He turned the mic towards the 8,000 awaiting voices and handed the reins over as both Dessners began strumming, “Vanderlyle Crybaby Geeks.” Berninger once again took his place amongst the crowd. For a night filled with deeply intimate moments, none came close to hearing the entirety of the Armory sing “I'll explain everything to the geeks” with everything they had. It was the perfect end to an exceptionally special evening.

The Beths