The Historic Edinburgh Castle played host to “the National”, one of the world’s biggest indie-rock bands … was it a night that would go down in history?
To start the night off Bess Atwell took the stage for a brief set comprising mostly of songs from her new album “Light Sleeper”. The set was short but sweet with Atwell on the stage for only 30 minutes. Atwell is mellow and melodic and along with her band produced a perfect start to the evening. Stand out songs “Co-op” – a song she said was written after a trip to a local supermarket – and “Release Myself” got the crowd moving. The early stage time for Atwell will have affected the numbers in the crowd and she deserves a larger audience – based on this performance that will only be a matter of time. Take the chance to see her if you can.
Edinburgh Castle esplanade transforms itself every summer into an open-air amphitheatre with the castle providing a breathtaking backdrop. With no cover and this being Scotland there were nervous glances towards the cloudy sky with a summer crowd kitted out with waterproofs. It was to this backdrop that the National took the stage for what would be a set of over 2 hours of tracks from their extensive back catalogue.
They started the night with “Sea of Love” from 2013s “Trouble Will Find Me”, with lead singer Matt Berninger immediately prowling every inch of the stage and pointing out individual members of the crowd. Berninger had a great connection with the audience and before long he was leaving the stage and interacting the crowd, collecting home made fan signs and displaying them back on the stage.
Highlights from the set included fan favourite “Bloodbuzz Ohio” which got an early outing with Berningers baritone voice cutting through the cool night air. Also from the same album “High Violet” the band played “Conversation 16” and “England”.
“Fake Empire” from the 2007 album “The Boxer” brought down the main part of the show with Berninger calling out fascism, nationalism and dedicating the song to America, abortion access and Pride month. The brass section which accompanied added a touch of grandeur fitting the historic setting.
After a short break the band was back for an energetic encore. Bess Atwell rejoined the stage to duet with Berninger on “Rylan” from 2019’s “I Am Easy To Find” album. This was followed by “Mr November” which was dedicated to Scott Hutchison from “Frightened Rabbit” with Berninger urging the crowd to check out “Tiny Changes”, a Scottish charity focused on youth mental health. More info from https://tinychanges.com/
The conclusion of the evening saw Berninger enter the crowd for a prolonged period with what must be the worlds longest microphone cable for an extended version of “Terrible Love”. The crowd loved it and mobbed him for videos and selfies as he made his way towards the rear of the esplanade.
As the clock approached 10:30 the show finished in the National tradition of an acoustic number with the crowd taking the lead duties on “Vanderlyle Crybaby Geeks”. This was a fitting end to a high energy performance from the band.
With the show over the crowd slowly filtered out the castle gates and with the historic streets of Edinburgh echoing with the audience still singing the encore it had proved to be a night that would go down in history for those who had been there. And the rain held off…
Words & Pictures: Allan Petrie @albabrae