So much for easing back into things. On the first night of a sold-out, four-night stand, the National opened with a ballad about a fracturing relationship.
Thank you for supporting our journalism. This article is available exclusively for our subscribers, who help fund our work at the Chicago Tribune.Frontman Matt Berninger sings as The National performs at Auditorium Theatre in Chicago on May 18, 2023. It was the first of four nights.
Nearly every song seemed packed with the drama of an entire miniseries in a few minutes. Telescoping the feelings, doubts and desires that comprise the human condition, the National hit on sensations deeper than clear-cut defeat, celebration or “sad dad” disappointment. The group’s music had eerie overtones that often dared make the audience uneasy, and its low-key atmospherics served as sleight of hand for the trauma underfoot.
Save for two accompanying multi-instrumentalists, nobody joined the National on Thursday. Not even for songs associated with guest vocalists. The group didn’t need assistance, though it would benefit from a cleaner house mix. Berninger’s singing on numerous numbers bordered on unintelligible, and it had nothing to do with enunciation.
For Berninger, that took the form of a recalibrated focus that bypassed former pursuits — downing a bottle of wine, wading through the crowd, slamming a microphone onto the floor — in favor of a more restrained, albeit still animated persona who seemed he might snap without warning. Dressed in a black suit, his hair and trimmed beard peppered with gray, the bespectacled 52-year-old singer looked like the band’s literary-minded music sounded. His spontaneity told a different story.
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