The National – “Vanderlyle Crybaby Geeks” – Fillmore, Denver 10.18.10
This you don’t see everyday. If ever. A band naked, so to speak, before their fans. In this case The National at the foot of the Fillmore stage, completely acoustic. No mics. Chill inducing. An amazing moment. The kind that you keep the presence of mind to understand how special it is.
Towards the beginning of the night I wondered why the audience at the Fillmore seemed so reserved. By this point in the night, during their last encore, I finally figured it out. The mixture of romantic awe and earnest heartfelt connection with Matt Berninger’s unique cadence and the band’s deliberate loveliness caused polite reverence. A surprising intimacy in a relatively large venue.
As if the picture wasn’t perfect enough, the chorus repeats the words:
“All the very best of us / String ourselves up for love”