With two sets of talented brothers rocking the band, the soulful vocals of charismatic Matt Beninger, and a dynamic visual display, The National brought an evening of sensual delights to Berkeley’s Hearst Greek Theater last night.
Decidedly in the rock genre, The National’s version of rock has depth and a mellow edge. The Dessner brothers’ guitar riffs complement singer Matt Beninger’s raspy sound—both the music and vocals have a lingering quality to them. When you’ve played together for 18 years, it must be challenging to put together a set list that pleases everyone—they did seem to fit in quite a bit, performing favorites like “I Need My Girl” and “Fake Empire,” as well as several hits from their Grammy Award winning album Sleep Well Beast. The dynamite light show and visuals provided a varied and stimulating accompaniment–ranging from organic and abstract background movement to streaming white lights and color saturated images of the musicians.
Beninger’s uber-deep, sometimes gravelly voice is engaging and, at times mesmerizing. He breaks up the serious, frequently esoteric lyrics (and his chatter between songs) by interacting with his adoring audience. Standing dangerously on the edge of the platforms that jut out from the stage and, at times, jumping down and shoving, while still belting it out, through the crowd on the floor—at times nose to nose with his fans. At one point, he said that he wouldn’t do it again because on Monday night, he and a attendee “both got hurt,” ; however, he didn’t heed his own experience and proceeded to power through, long mic cord trailing behind him, guided by a stage hand. As the night wore on, Beninger sought to connect somewhat more assertively—tossing a couple of empty plastic cups out. And then, finally dumping a full cup on folks jamming in the front.
Audience engagement was the name of the game: The National closed their encore with “Vanderlyle Crybaby Geeks”—turning the vocals over to the crowd. The song began with the audience crooning the cryptic lyrics “Leave your home, Change your name, Live alone, Eat your cake.” Beninger didn’t have to sing a word; he went on to turn the mic over to the audience and finally, he passed out the mic stand. It may be a band’s greatest feat and compliment to have so many admirers who can easily take over.
