The National - Yonge Dundas NXNE (June 14/13)

A large group fleshed out the touring sound of NXNE big, free act for 2013. An even larger group of fans thronged to the stage and well beyond, closing Yonge Street in fact, to catch their adult indie rock. The National entertained for a long time, drawing from their now wealthy horde of songs with the addition of the very enjoyable Trouble Will Find Me collection just this year. That being said there is somewhat of a formula and having come into them hard with Alligator and eased off a little more from Boxer until the latest there were admittedly a few numbers that may have been released but didn't really register with me. Unfortunately from my close, but to the side location I couldn't see much of the guitar and bass section however the brass was bumping. And of course there's the gruff voiced Berninger who leads the way with mic in hand. Actually he led it all the way out into a tour of the crowd more than once (to the chagrin of security who had to deal with these ventures and the tangle of cables that resulted.) The stronger songs did draw me in so if I'd been a bigger fan I think I would have lapped it all up, thereby not matching their Massey Hall performance that had drawn me back into the fan fold. A generous encore naturally delivered Mr. November but then returned with an a cappella Vanderlyle Crybaby Geeks version which was lost on some of the crowd for lack of familiarity or projection of sound. All told it was a decent set in a kinda crummy venue that could have shortened the length to remain focussed, at least for this casual fan.