No. 5 The National - Countdown of the Best Concerts of 2010

Luke Holwerda

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Show: The National at Marquee Theatre

Date: Thursday, October 14, 2010

Background: The National was touring in support of a stellar new album, High Violet, and made a two-night swing through Arizona, playing both Tucson and Tempe. The band seemed rested and relaxed from a two-hour commute from ye olde Pueblo and thus the show started fantastic, on pace to be one of the top two shows of the year.

Why it stood out: This was a great show up until the encore, when singer Matt Berninger hit his bottle of wine a little too hard and spiraled down. As I said at the time: "By the closer, an acoustic and mic-less version of " Vanderlylle Cry Baby," things hit bottom for Berninger. He stood at the side of the stage flapping his arms around like an impotent little penguin while his bandmates led a room-wide sing-along. They did a nice job, but it wasn't quite the same. Here's the thing: All things considered, this was actually still a great show. The band was that impressive for most of their set."

Someone else said: "Listening to Terrible Love on record, I'd never guess it would replace Mr. November as the epic, walk-through-the-audience moment of the encore. And, yet, it worked (even if the unwieldy mic cord whacked me in the neck in Tempe)." -Kevin Murphy of So Much Silence

Read the full review here.