The National

I got pairs in the Orch for both nights in Vancouver!

I just got an email from The National offering a presale code because I follow them on Spotify. That's pretty cool. Haven't seen that before. I don't think I'm going to go because I hate the venue... and really, nearly $200 for 2 decent tix... seems a little much for The National. I really like them, but still.

PJ_Soul said:

I just got an email from The National offering a presale code because I follow them on Spotify. That's pretty cool. Haven't seen that before. I don't think I'm going to go because I hate the venue... and really, nearly $200 for 2 decent tix... seems a little much for The National. I really like them, but still.

Same with me. I had row 12 orchestra in my cart but decided at the last minute to cancel. After my Soundgarden experience at the QE Theater I decided not to get them. And yeah $200 Is steep

Another song from the new album.....sounds great.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=71xmrULJ-ms

PJ_Soul said:

^^ I like that - very soothing. I'm disappointed to be missing their upcoming show. Another one lost to the fucking QE Theatre.

Yeah, very cool song.  They're playing this opera house in Chicago for 2 shows in December....I struck out on tickets when they went on sale but will prob pick some up at some point.  Just recently really got into these guys....can't wait to check them out live.

PJ_Soul said:

Indifference71 said:

PJ_Soul said:

^^ I like that - very soothing. I'm disappointed to be missing their upcoming show. Another one lost to the fucking QE Theatre.

Yeah, very cool song.  They're playing this opera house in Chicago for 2 shows in December....I struck out on tickets when they went on sale but will prob pick some up at some point.  Just recently really got into these guys....can't wait to check them out live.

They are supposedly super amazing live - they are regularly listed as one of the top 10 live performers among current bands. I have seen them once before, but they were at a really unfortunate venue then too, so it wasn't so great because of that. Apparently The National exclusively books the worst of the worst venues when they come to Vancouver, lol. It sucks.

I would have preferred two nights at the Orpheum or the Commodore but I'll take two either way!

PJ_Soul said:

Indifference71 said:

PJ_Soul said:

^^ I like that - very soothing. I'm disappointed to be missing their upcoming show. Another one lost to the fucking QE Theatre.

Yeah, very cool song.  They're playing this opera house in Chicago for 2 shows in December....I struck out on tickets when they went on sale but will prob pick some up at some point.  Just recently really got into these guys....can't wait to check them out live.

They are supposedly super amazing live - they are regularly listed as one of the top 10 live performers among current bands. I have seen them once before, but they were at a really unfortunate venue then too, so it wasn't so great because of that. Apparently The National exclusively books the worst of the worst venues when they come to Vancouver, lol. It sucks.

PJ Soul what is the problem with the QE? I have never had an issue there and the sound from what I remember has been good. Also the outdoor show at the PNE the last time they were here was epic in the rain! I think you may regret not going in December, but probably you have good reasons for avoiding the QE.
This is the only band I have travelled to see other then PJ, they are that good live.

bootlegger10 said:

Great band live.  They don't change up their set enough for me to want to see them multiple times on a tour.  Twice tops. 

Yeah this tour I'm only going to both vancouver shows, which I suspect they will at least play five songs different. Most likely more on back to back nights 

chitty said:

PJ_Soul said:

Indifference71 said:

PJ_Soul said:

^^ I like that - very soothing. I'm disappointed to be missing their upcoming show. Another one lost to the fucking QE Theatre.

Yeah, very cool song.  They're playing this opera house in Chicago for 2 shows in December....I struck out on tickets when they went on sale but will prob pick some up at some point.  Just recently really got into these guys....can't wait to check them out live.

They are supposedly super amazing live - they are regularly listed as one of the top 10 live performers among current bands. I have seen them once before, but they were at a really unfortunate venue then too, so it wasn't so great because of that. Apparently The National exclusively books the worst of the worst venues when they come to Vancouver, lol. It sucks.

PJ Soul what is the problem with the QE? I have never had an issue there and the sound from what I remember has been good. Also the outdoor show at the PNE the last time they were here was epic in the rain! I think you may regret not going in December, but probably you have good reasons for avoiding the QE.
This is the only band I have travelled to see other then PJ, they are that good live.

I have a great reason to avoid the QE. I have seen many shows there, and the sound has been so bad in more recent years that it was a waste of money. I do and will regret that I'm missing the National, and all the other bands I want to see but who play the QE. However, I will not regret my boycott of the QE. I had the mindset you're suggesting for a long time. I kept thinking that surely THIS time the sound will be okay. And I got burned every single time for the last 2 or 3 years when I kept trying. So even if the sound happens to be okay, I will still feel fine because the QE simply doesn't deserve my patronage. FWIW, I saw a few people claiming that the sound way okay at even the worst of the worst QE shows that I saw, and the fact that they sounded awful was confirmed by some others, so... I don't know what to make of that. I don't know what the explanation for this rotten sound is, but I once heard that the QE has some kind of union situation in place where they force the bands to use some of their own staff for sound setup or something. I have no idea if this is true, but if so, that could be the problem. Otherwise I suppose it would just have to do with the acoustics of the building. Although I've also seen an Opera and a musical there, and both of those sounded okay. It's just rock shows that suck in my experience.

As for their last Vancouver show at the PNE Amphitheatre..... yeah, I didn't think that show was epic. Maybe if I'd been closer to the stage I would have had a much different experience, but back where I was, it wasn't horrible, but it definitely wasn't great either. The was a touch of "blah" to it for the folks at the back of the floor. There wasn't much "vibe" back there, and the crowd wasn't very good. I didn't mind the rain at all and it didn't sound horrible or anything, but there also wasn't any "oomph" or whatever that ineffable quality is that makes a show really great. Perhaps the oomph drifted away into the sky before it hit us in the back half of the venue. The fact that I had really high expectations probably didn't help. I did, however, enjoy when he crowd surfed and got flipped upside down with his legs sticking up in the air while still singing and then started giggling, lol.