The National made their headlining Madison Square Garden debut on Friday night (8/18) with a 27-song, two-plus-hour show that touched on almost all eras of their career, from 2004’s Cherry Tree EP through six songs from this year’s First Two Pages of Frankenstein, their even newer single “Space Invader,” and unreleased new song “Smoke Detector” that was given its live debut just ten days earlier. In the midst of all that, they played countless other fan faves including “Don’t Swallow the Cap,” “Bloodbuzz Ohio,” “The System Only Dreams in Total Darkness,” “Abel,” “Fake Empire,” “Mr. November,” “Terrible Love,” and more, before closing out the monumental show with an acoustic rendition of “Vanderlyle Crybaby Geeks” with the whole crowd singing along. The show felt like a celebratory culmination of this band’s 20+ year career thus far, and they said multiple times how grateful they were and how crazy and amazing it was to be there.
Making the show even more special, it was opened by Patti Smith and Her Band. She was great as always, and her set included a cover of Television‘s “Guiding Light” with a tribute to Tom Verlaine, who died earlier this year.
The National’s Homecoming festival returns to Cincinnati September 15 & 16, and Patti Smith is playing that too, alongside Pavement, The Walkmen, Weyes Blood, and more.
Since The National guitarist Aaron Dessner started working with Taylor Swift, who then also sang on their latest album, The National have forever become part of Taylor’s world. Not surprisingly then, there were people — especially Swifties — wondering if Taylor might make a guest appearance at the big NYC show. Conspiracy theories were making the rounds before the show:
Fans have pointed out that The National MSG poster they released on their Instagram today has both The Alcott and polaroids of Coney Island, both song titles Taylor has with the band!
— Taylor Swift Updates (@SwiftNYC) August 18, 2023
There are also red lips and “dial 13 for the operator” and the clock at Midnight 👀 pic.twitter.com/q4pDuwyQqS
And, according to some on Twitter, there seemed to be people in attendance who at least appeared to be new National-via-Taylor fans that were especially hoping for the guest appearance. Alas, that did not happen, but Taylor was not that far away! She instead was causing chaos in Long Beach Island down the Jersey shore on the same evening (where she was reportedly attending the rehearsal dinner for her other producer Jack Antonoff’s wedding which went down in NJ the next night).
Photos of The National and Patti Smith by P Squared, fan-shot videos, and setlists below.
https://youtu.be/i0dGxvJbr4Y
Patti Smith @ MSG – 8/18/23 Setlist (via)
People Have the Power
Footnote to Howl (Allen Ginsberg cover)
Waiting Underground
Guiding Light (Television cover)
Because the Night
Nine
Dancing Barefoot
Beneath the Southern Cross (with “Third Stone from the Sun.”)
Pissing in a River
After the Gold Rush (Neil Young cover)
Gloria
The National @ MSG – 8/18/23 Setlist (via)
Once Upon a Poolside
Eucalyptus
Tropic Morning News
New Order T-Shirt
Demons
Don’t Swallow the Cap
Bloodbuzz Ohio
The System Only Dreams in Total Darkness
I Need My Girl
Apartment Story
Conversation 16
Cherry Tree
Abel
Alien
Grease in Your Hair
Day I Die
Smoke Detector
Pink Rabbits
England
Graceless
Fake Empire
About Today
Encore:
Light Years
Mr. November
Terrible Love
Space Invader
Vanderlyle Crybaby Geeks