As The National's Matt Berninger hit his stride in "I Need My Girl," guitarist Aaron Dessner glanced to his right on stage. His young daughter, just south of two feet tall and wearing a pair of large, sound-dampening earmuffs, was drawing the only spontaneous applause during the band's intimate, 40-minute set. She was dancing.
At River North bar Untitled, a rare place to see a major touring act, a crowd of no more than 125 attended the private show that preceded The National's headlining appearance at the Chicago Theatre Wednesday night, the group's second of four appearances there this week. Dessner's daughter's dancing punctuated the intimacy of the Brooklyn-based indie rockers' brief set and showed that a band that has risen to the likes of late-night Lolla slots and large arenas can still captivate a small room. Not that that's a surprise for a group with material as mood-driven as the National.
The band is hardly known for getting a crowd to get up and move, let alone sway to a steady beat. Still, opener "Don't Swallow the Cap" got heads nodding immediately. And up close, those not swept up in the evening's cocktails (traded for drink tickets distributed upon arrival) were closely watching a band that, fortunately, wasn't treating the tiny crowd as a throwaway, promotional obligation. Berninger, who uttered but a dozen words to the crowd outside of his lyrics, even seemed to enjoy himself while sipping on an unspecified cocktail between songs.
Continuing with the soul-dampening "I Should Live in Salt" and family-style standout "I Need My Girl," The National didn't skimp--trombone and trumpet were on hand throughout the evening, which contained about six songs, give or take. While it was clear the band was saving lung capacity for the main attraction at the Chicago Theatre, the Untitled performance proved to a small audience that The National has hardly stopped trying. Nor has Dessner's daughter, who once again took center stage during closer "Fake Empire" as she attempted to pluck the guitar strings her dad held down from the elevated stage. Another charming moment that nicely offset the songs' hushed woe.
The National will be playing two more sold out shows in Chicago at the Chicago Theatre this week.
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