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As a longtime fan of the American indie rock band for sad dads, the National, you get used to defending the band from haters who say it’s too slow or too depressing. And yeah, they could be right on both those accounts if you’re talking about listening to the National in your headphones on a rainy night (one of the best conditions in which to listen to them, I would argue).
The great defence for the “boring” argument has always been the National’s live shows. Best done in an intimate setting, the precision of the band members and the red wine-fuelled, emotive, and messy but controlled presence of lead singer Matt Berninger have always been a spectacle that you absolutely never leave without being satisfied.
As the band has moved onto bigger things, that’s sometimes been hard to replicate. Their 2024 co-headlining show with War on Drugs at Rogers Arena was still special and awe-inspiring. But it doesn’t have the same effect when Berninger rolls into the crowd screaming into the mic and you’re a lifetime away in hockey arena stands.
The band and Berninger himself have always been better, like many bands, in intimate settings, places where he can really rip the shreds out of the walls and ceiling with his voice and charge through the crowd.
So expectations in this corner were high for Berninger’s solo show at the Orpheum in Vancouver last week. It took some time, but they were eventually met. More on that in a bit.
Opening the show was Hannah Georgas, the former Vancouver resident who has since moved closer to her original home in Ontario. She remarked about how much she missed it in B.C., and how honorued she was to be opening for Berninger. Someone shouted out her high school. Her response: “Haha OK. That was my high school.”
It was a stripped-down set—just Georgas and her drummer and keyboardist. She dove right into her catalogue with memorable and note-perfect renditions of “All That Emotion”, “Same Mistakes”, and “Scratch”. There was a heart-breaking, slow version of “Beautiful View” before Georgas ended on “Elephant” to rousing applause.
The intermission hit and the merch lines in the lobby were active as fans gleefully filled up their cups with red wine before Berninger’s appearance.
He arrived just after 9 p.m. with a full band accompanying him, a stark contrast to Georgas’ setup, including two men who kind of looked like slightly older versions of the Dessner brothers, his National bandmates. Talented musicians seem to sprout around the man.
Berninger, red solo cup in hand of course, started into the night with “No Love” and moved into other tracks from his 2025 release Get Sunk, like “Frozen Oranges” and “Breaking Into Acting”.
On that last one, he noted, “This was about breaking into acting. I was almost in White Noise, the Baumbach film. They gave it to Adam Driver.”
As National fans know, Berninger famously doesn’t play an instrument. But that has apparently changed as he announced to the crowd, “I’ve learned an instrument. The harmonica. Her name is Monica.”
He used Monica to great effect on “Distant Axis”, adding a layer to the song that didn’t exist before.
As Berninger tore through his two-album catalogue of solo songs (and some new ones like “Invisible Jerk”), it was clear he was doing his best to emote heavily and bring life to the tunes. The crowd, which was probably around three-quarters full, seemed entranced but also somewhat laidback. Not a person in the crowd stood. Maybe that was a good thing on a weekday night. After all, the Orpheum chairs are awfully comfy.
The talky “Nowhere Special” missed the mark a bit, but Berninger bounced back quickly with “Silver Jeep”, which features Ronboy (Julia Laws), who was holding down the keys aptly. The show really heated up in its final third, as Berninger put together a rousing rendition of “Little By Little” in which he let loose.
Then a shoutout to Georgas, who came on stage to join Berninger for the beautiful National song “Light Years”. You could see the joy in her eyes, getting to sing a National song to a crowd in Vancouver.
Sensing what the crowd wanted, Berninger kept his foot on the pedal with “Terrible Love”, the classic National song off High Violet that the band has closed more than one show with. And yes, he tore through the crowd, touching peoples heads and putting his next to theirs and screaming in their faces.
I thought he might be done with all that upon that song’s conclusion, but no, he jumped right back in with “Bonnet of Pins”, perhaps the strongest song off Get Sunk, as people left their seats behind in a mad dash to get involved. He came back out for an encore that included a cover of the New Order song “Blue Monday” (which Berninger has also recorded).
It took awhile, but the crowd got what it wanted. The next time he comes back, whether it be with the National or not, we hope it’s somewhere that everyone can get in on the music.