Hoping to get tix for that show as well. I've seen them at 2 arenas: Agganis Arena in Boston (capacity ~8,000) and Barclay's Center in Brooklyn (capacity ~19K). I do prefer theatre shows, but it will be fun to see them at the Garden.
When the dates were slowly trickling out and there was no NYC date, I was thinking: Yay! Maybe a couple nights at The Cap in Port Chester or possibly a 4-5 night run at The Beacon. Then I thought, oh, it could be RCMH. When I saw it was MSG my heart sank. Don't get me wrong - I see a ton of shows there - but with all the f*ckery that goes on with tickets there (reselling at 10x face etc) I was happy for them, but sad as well.
Yup. This is why I don’t want Taylor Swift on the new record. Her music is whatever, but her association will make them bigger than they’ve ever been. If The National turn into a band that just plays MSG, and other arena shows I will be very disappointed.
They will still play smaller venue shows I’m sure. I’ll be shocked if they sell out MSG but stranger things have happened
I don’t doubt it. The National have never been a band that doesn’t appreciate the unique venue, smaller venue. They haven’t not played smaller venues in the past 10 years or so since they’ve been bigger. It’s much easier to play larger venues because they can make significantly more $$ by doing so on the other hand.
Lots of bands get bigger over time, exclusive play arenas and lose touch with their audiences, roots, and create worse music because of it. I know that in the grand scheme of things The National are already a fairly popular band, but it’s not a ridiculous assumption to think it won’t happen to them too.
Hollywood Bowl was a bummer. Glad they seem to be sticking with the Greek. I also prefer the Greek to the Wiltern and Palladium.
When I first saw them in 2013 in Austin it was at Stubbs which is a good size. Maybe 50 yards length max. That’s when I hugged Matt and sang into his mic Mr November as he made his way through the crowd.
And they didn’t even add Texas dates
this round. But hopeful they come back to a smaller venue that the amphitheater.
I guess I would worry about that if this was their 3rd album. I think they're all fairly grounded enough to be fine with their station in life. Frankly, we're lucky they're still doing music together. I think it's a fairly good sign that things are normal given most of the tour stops are venues they've done before. I doubt one Taylor Swift collaboration is going to cause them to suddenly become U2 or Coldplay.
And they didn’t even add Texas dates
They haven't been to Texas since 2018. Wondering if they're not big fans of our state leadership. I can't really blame them. They've skipped ACL since 2018. In Dallas, they typically play the South Side Ballroom. It's a small venue but they've definitely outgrown it. It's always overpacked and the layout is pretty bad. I wish they would play a little bit bigger venue like The Bomb Factory or even the Toyota Music Factory where I saw The War on Drugs. Both are great venues with better sightlines. The Bomb Factor and the Roxy in Atlanta are mirror images of one another. And the last few shows I've been to, Atlanta at the Roxy in 2019 and Red Rocks and Dallas in 2018 all featured Matt walking out into the crowd during Mr. November. I doubt that's ever going to change. I always feel sorry for Matt's cord roadie who has to try to work that back in and out.
