Stage Presence is Everything

I don't especially like The National, but they put on a great show. I found myself at their show at terminal 5 last night, expecting a relatively uninteresting night. The opening act was ridiculous [in a bad way], the drinks were expensive [17 dollars for a Red Stripe and a Jameson & ginger?], and the National took over an hour for their sound-check.



But then they came on stage... and the drummer was totally in the pocket... and the violinist stopped being a prima-donna and rocked the f*ck out... and the coke-addled singer started crooning into the mic...

So it was a good show. Great energy. Weird crowd. Cool venue. I still don't really like The National... but they put on a damn good show.