Perennial indie rock band The National performed at Union Transfer in Philly (aka, per Matt Berninger, the birthplace of dermocracy [sic]) on Wednesday, May 15th. The sold out show, announced just 2 weeks earlier, comes ahead of the release of their 8th studio LP I Am Easy to Find. The album, an artistic collaboration between the band and film director Mike Mills, will be officially released this Friday, May 17th. The accompanying film (directed by Mills) was released earlier this week – it features reworked versions of songs from the album and is a beautiful and emotional birth-to-death depiction of its protagonist (played by Alicia Vikander) condensed into a 24-minute runtime. You can watch the film in its entirety below, but head over to iameasytofind.com for additional content and commentaries.
While 2017’s Sleep Well Beast was evolutionary in its own right, I Am Easy to Find shows a progression in their sound and songwriting in a different way. Most apparent is the prominent inclusion of female vocalists. For their performance, the band was joined on stage by Mina Tindle and Kate Stables – their vocal contributions both contrast and complement Berninger’s deep crooning baritone delivery and brought a welcome dynamic element to their sound. Their setlist was front-loaded with new material, but they finished out their set with crowd favorites from albums past. The predominantly parent-aged crowd was unable to organize an effective rally of applause, a point that Berninger jokingly chided before the band launched into their encore. They kicked off their 5-song encore with “Not in Kansas”, a standout track from I Am Easy to Find – its stream of consciousness-style lyrics are brilliant and Berninger sells the sadness and self-doubt with conviction. With its song-ending climax, they closed out the night with “Terrible Love” (from 2010’s High Violet LP). Check out the full setlist below.
The National Setlist:
– You Had Your Soul With You
– Oblivions
– The Pull of You
– Hey Rosey
– I Am Easy to Find
– Where Is Her Head
– So Far, So Fast
– Hairpin Turns
– Rylan
– Light Years
– The System Only Dreams in Total Darkness
– Don’t Swallow the Cap
– Guilty Party
– Bloodbuzz Ohio
– Fake Empire
Encore
– Not in Kansas
– I Need My Girl
– Wasp Nest
– Mr. November
– Terrible Love
The National will be back in Philly again soon when they play the Mann Center on Tuesday, June 11th (with Courtney Barnett) – tickets for that show are available here. See all of their upcoming tour dates here.
Make sure to keep on scrolling to see more photos from the show below.
