[kleh]

I read and sat on this question for a long time but i gotta say


best : odds on day for night tour (really enjoyed the sadies on world containter)

worst : although ive never seen em open for the hip, the arkells drive me insane, i dont get it, whiney boring songs that get played way too much during sporting events and in video games

[potsie]

The National are a band that are blowing me away. Everything since Boxer has been amazing...can't wait for the new one this month. But I'm sure many would call them the ultimate in pretense...and I see the point.

So, yeah, music is subjective. Back to the thread (sorry Tthip).

I love the National as well. I flew to Toronto (from Halifax) two weeks ago for one night just to catch them preview the new album at Roy Thomson Hall. It was a helluva show. Sure, I could see how someone could call The National pretentious, in a similar way to how someone could have labelled the Hip the same around the time of M@W. The lyrics that begin "John Cage had come to feel..." belong in a university literature department. I once saw The National as described as "rock music that has died and gone to graduate school", a description that could have easily applied to the Hip around that time as well. However, I think both The National and The Hip slip the bounds of pretentiousness with humour and non-serious onstage antics. Matt Berninger is often quite witty on stage (and in his lyrics) and has great banter with the other band mates. Gord had a similar sense of humour, although he differed by never truly bantering with the other guys on stage. Anyway, 5 days to release day! Sorry for derailing the point of original thread.