MY LIFE AS A BLOG: The National

While I'm writing this the pictures I took are being uploaded onto my Flickr account, plus 'my country' has reached the final of the World Cup. Not too surprising, what would have been surprising is when we would have lost from Uruguay. But that didn't happen. Anyway, let's start with tonight's gig. First off, Broken Records. I never listened to them, no idea what they were about, the kind of music they make. Almost immediately after I walked in they started playing and it was good! Whoa. Impressed. This is one of those supporting acts I could end up really listening to. They are a big band, Arcade Fire crossed my mind, Beirut as well but with a bit of country on the edge. So I'll definitely check them out in the near future. And well, then The National appeared. An advantage of having The National play at 7pm instead of 8.30 pm, so that anyone who would like to could watch the football match, is that they had to start on time. Broken Records were done around 6.30 so the wait for The National wasn't that long. As soon as they took the stage they brought a smile to my face and to everyone else in the crowd I bet. Turned out they all dressed up in orange! :D After the first song Matt commented he was feeling like a dick wearing a completely orange suit (even his tie was orange) 'cause he had expected the entire crowd to be dressed in orange, but that was hardly the case! Not many of us were. Me neither. When I watch football I do it without dressing up. Perhaps when I would actually go to the arena and see the match then I would put some face paint on, but else, nope. It's a bit ridiculous.

So I've heard Matt Berningers' voice live for the second time! :D Many times I closed my eyes, enjoying it to the fullest. They played lots of songs from High Violet (of course, it's their latest record) and some from Boxer (the one that came before) BUT they also played Available (!!!), Daughters Of The Soho Riots, Abel and Mr. November (might be my all-time favourite!). I'll admit that even though they performed well, it felt a bit chaotic or noisy. At first I was like, hmmm, it might just be me. But then on the way back home I started thinking about Broken Records and comparing the two and when those guys played the vibe seemed better. Might have been the difference in lighting which was so much better during the Broken Records set. The National was drenched in orange for most of the time which you will be able to see on the pictures that I took.

Also, the crowd might have been a bit noisy maybe? AND I just happened to stand next to a guy who was kind of annoying. I think he was from the US 'cause he shouted a comment about Bonnaroo (a music festival for all of you who don't know). His moves were so wrong. He moved like elderly people do who think they're still teenagers, the kind you see at concerts of very bad Dutch artists that play music comparable to the German genre of the 'schlager'. HORRIBLE. I mean, this is The National, an actual band, a serious professional high quality one, moving the way this guy moves (his hand in a fist and shaking it up in the air) is an insult towards these guys! The National is supposed to take over your body, filled with emotion you let yourself get carried away. It's like going to church sharing the music as when sharing bread and wine during holy communion! You don't just move like this one guy did and he moved like this throughout ALL of the gig, plus he started yelling when the last seconds of the songs had not yet ended and a couple of times he was the one who started clapping which made other people start clapping as well! I'm sorry, but MR. you should be BANNED. I can be forgiving, but this is just one step too far. I really can't think of any excuse of why I should let this guy get away with this. But like I said, many times I had my eyes closed trying to make the moment private and so I was still able to enjoy the gig as long as it lasted. Next month I'll be seeing them again at the Lowlands festival. They'll probably play a set that's similar to this one, but I hope they put some more Alligator on the list. They should do like Bloc Party did once when they toured Australia and did a gig playing the entire Silent Alarm from beginning to end in the exact order that appears on the album. THAT would be a truly great night, just Alligator. If that ever happens I can die

All pictures are to be found on my Flickr

This Tuesday it will be July 6th 2010, on Wednesday November 7th 2007 I saw them live for the first time. History will be repeated, or at least part of it. Tomorrow I'll make sure I prepare myself giving all of their albums and EPs loads of playtime! :D

Here's a recording I found on YouTube from that night. They're playing Abel

Ooooooooooooooooo CAN'T WAIT!!!!

Yesterday I posted Dutch models both young men and women, but I forgot a certain lady! She's one of my favourites, so that's why I post a picture of her now. I didn't mean to forget about you so please no hard feelings :0 Here she is the lovely Marloes Horst, the picture on the left is a favourite of mine. The red bathing suit couldn't be any simpler and yet she manages to make it look incredible on her without any apparent effort. Stunnerrrr