On Thursday I was pretty bummed. I got an email asking me to cover The National‘s semi-secret last-second gig at The Bell House, but couldn’t do it – I’d already committed to a high society party the same night and couldn’t justify canceling on them. Still, it hurt to know that I could have seen one of my top 5 bands perform at a venue that holds about 350 people when their upcoming tour will put them at venues in the multi-thousands. Radio City Music Hall holds 6000, so seeing them at The Bell House is a major privilege.
Luckily, I got my shot anyway as ticket to their Friday night show were released yesterday afternoon. I snatched a pair up at $20 a pop and got really, really excited. The band was premiering songs off their new record, High Violet, which is out May 11 on 4AD. Not only did we get the new songs, we got some great oldies as well – 20 songs in all. It was quite the night.
The openers were also interesting enough for me to get behind. Buke and Gass are a Brooklyn duo that I could only describe as Dirty Projectors meets tUnE-YarDs meets Rodrigo y Gabriela. I’ll need to hear more before I can really determine how I feel about them, but my initial impression was favorable.
I can’t wait for the new National record – it’s going to blow your mind.
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