The National - Live at House of Blues, 5/23

The National, famed from South by Southwest 2005, and made recognizable (even if you don't know it), by the instrumental version of their 'Fake Empire', which was adopted by the Obama presidential campaign, played tonight, Saturday, May 23, 2009 at the recently opened House of Blues in Boston.


Trevor & I had seen them before, but before I had any idea how much I loved them. Over the last year, The National has literally been the soundtrack to my life (Each of their songs on my iPod has been played over 300 times), and the show was everything I could have hoped, featuring some new stuff, all the classics, and an amazing encore.

Here's the set list, in somewhat accurate order:

The Runaway (new - formerly called Karamazov)
Start a War
Mistaken for Strangers
Brainy
Secret Meeting
Baby We'll Be Fine
Slow Show
Squalor Victoria
Abel
Ada
Vanderlyle Cry Baby
Apartment Story
Blood Buzz Ohio (new)
Daughters of the Soho Riots
Fake Empire

Encore:
Green Gloves
Mr. November
About Today