The National returned to Atlanta on Wednesday night behind their latest album First Two Pages of Frankenstein, this time playing Cadence Bank Amphitheatre at Chastain Park.
With The Beths kicking off the evening, the Atlanta crowd piled in on what turned out to be a “cool” August night; at least compared to the upper 90’s and humidity only experienced in the pits of hell that Atlanta had the over the previous few days/weeks. It was setup to be a perfect evening for the amphitheater experience.
The National came out to a dark stage to start, kicking it off chill and building the setlist with “Once Upon A Poolside”, the first song on the new album that features Sufjan Stevens on the recorded version. With First Two Pages of Frankenstein featuring high profile collaborators like Sufjan, two Phoebe Bridgers songs, and even Taylor Swift, not mention the 2022 single “Weird Goodbyes” featuring Bon Iver, one of the interesting things about this tour is seeing those song come alive, without those guest spots.
This evening’s setlist included 24 career spanning songs, and while Atlanta didn’t get all of the songs with the guest collab songs, The National played “This Isn’t Helping”, one of the Phoebe songs, in addition to the two mentioned above. And well, those guests weren’t really missed at all as the band took the songs up a level live and you wouldn’t even miss them.
Atlanta got 6 songs off the new album, which all sounded great and fit nicely within the band’s live show. Of course, it’s always those beloved songs from past albums that really gets most crowds, and this one was no different. It seems with each album, The National’s shine rises, especially the last few years as the whole Swifties thing has found the band. But this wasn’t a crowd just there for the “hits” or whatever, older favorites like “Bloodbuzz Ohio”, “Apartment Story”, “Abel”, “Fake Empire”, “About Today”, and “Mr November” drew loud cheers. In addition to the like of “I Need My Girl”, “Terrible Love” and more, it was great setlist that included “Heavenfaced”, the first time that’s been played live since 2015. And then there was even a new, unreleased song, “Space Invader”, which has become a staple on this tour, and subsequently was released at midnight after the Atlanta show along with a second new single, “Alphabet City”.
Live, “Space Invader” was a slow builder, building into an out of this world crescendo at the end. While both new singles released that night after the show, it hasn’t been announced if these are one off singles or part of a new album or EP. Perhaps a 2nd album from The National is coming this year? There are rumors….and I’m here for it.
The National closed down their Atlanta set like they normally do, with a crowd sing along “Vanderlyle Crybaby Geeks”, which is always a show stopper in the best way. But if there is anything to say about The National’s 24 song set in Atlanta, it has to be that the band just may be better than ever live.
While the last few years we’ve seen the Dessner brothers (Bryce and Aaron) become two of the most in demand people other artists want to work with, whether playing or production, one of the things not quite mentioned enough is just how bad ass they are purely as musicians. Both were primarily on guitars in Atlanta since The National can bring in a bigger band live these days to play their other parts, and well, they were absolutely on fire. The Dessner brothers had those guitars singing to all of Chastain Park. Heck, old ladies were boogeying on down to The National all the way to the back of the venue like they were at a Lionel Richie concert. It was one hell of a show from a band at the top of their game. Maybe it’s not all Sad Dad Rock after all.
Check out photos below from The National performing live at Cadence Bank Amphitheatre at Chastain Park in Atlanta, GA on Wednesday, August 16th, 2023, all photos by Mike Gerry:
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UPCOMING THE NATIONAL TOUR DATES:
August 20 – Toronto, ON – Budweiser Stage with very special guest Patti Smith and her band and U.S. Girls
September 15 – Cincinnati, OH – Homecoming 2023 w/ Patti Smith and Her Band, The Walkmen, Arooj Aftab, Bartees Strange, Carriers and Ballard
September 16 – Cincinnati, OH – Homecoming 2023 w/ Pavement, Weyes Blood, Snail Mail, Julia Jacklin, The Drin and Leo Pastel
September 21 – Dublin, IRE – 3 Arena *
September 23 – Leeds, UK – First Direct Arena *
September 24 – Glasgow, UK – OVO Hydro Arena *
September 26 – London, UK – Alexandra Palace * SOLD OUT
September 27 – London, UK – Alexandra Palace *
September 29 – Amsterdam, NL – Ziggo Dome ^
September 30 – Berlin, DE – Max-Schmeling-Halle ^
October 1 – Munich, DE – Zenith ^
October 4 – Madrid, ES – WiZink Center ^
October 5 – Porto, PT – Super Bock Arena ^
October 6 – Lisbon, PT – Campo Pequeno ^
October 7 – Lisbon, PT – Campo Pequeno ^
Support:
*Soccer Mommy
^ Bartees Strange
