"Don't be bitter, Anna, I know how you think. You're waiting for Radio City to sink." ~the national

"Little Faith" is the first song they've written that references a venue.

On Wednesday I went to see The National at Radio City Music Hall. I worked some magic and managed to turn two bad single tickets into a pair in the front row of the first mezz, so we had a perfect view (even though I prefer being right up front). The National are my favorite band and this was my ninth time seeing them. After seeing them in tiny, tiny venues and standing so close that I could reach out and touch them if I wanted to, it was strange seeing them at Radio City (with a sold out crowd). I've seen them at Radio City once before, but they were opening for Arcade Fire. They've come a long way since then.

I was not crazy about their setlist for this show. I've seen them play what I thought was the perfect setlist once before (in Central Park a few years ago) so I guess I've set my standards too high. And the people behind us were incredibly loud and obnoxious (I especially wanted to kill them during "Daughters of the Soho Riots"). But overall it was a great show.

I was very, very impressed with The Antlers (the opening band). I'm glad I saw them play the High Violet Annex last month, because that was such a small venue and it was an intimate show. Seeing them play Radio City, though, was incredibly cool. They're an amazing band and I expect them to be headlining their own big shows someday soon.

brooklynvegan has a review with tons of great pictures. I'm in this picture (or at least my back is). I love how Nic is ducking to avoid the cord. They really need to get him a wireless mic.
Matt always comes into the crowd during Mr. November, and at this show he actually climbed up to the first mezzanine. It was very cool. He always seems to find me during Mr. November; I have video and pictures of three other times when he's been right next to me during that song. This time, though, the video didn't really work.

I bought myself a graduation present because (A) I felt like I deserved a little something for getting my Master's Degree, and (B) I had some extra money from teaching after-school this semester and wanted to spend it on myself. So I bought a Kodak Zi8 HD pocket video camera (in teal, of course). I tested it out for the first time at Wednesday's concert. It doesn't zoom all that much, so the video isn't fabulous simply because of that. But I used my soundgear mic, and I was very impressed with the audio quality. My videos are at my youtube channel, and I ripped the audio from the video, so here's the audio of the concert. I haven't done any editing because I'm lazy. Apartment Story is my favorite song by The National, so I was so frustrated when I had to change my battery right at the beginning of that song. I didn't miss too much of it, though.

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