Bonnaroo 2010: Why The National Didn't Disappoint

When I decided to forego seeing She & Him to get a front row spot at The National's Bonnaroo set, I wondered if I would regret it. Even though Boxer is one of my favorite albums and High Violet continues to win me over with every listen, I had my doubts about The National's ability to bring their dark, contemplative rock 'n' roll to a crowd of thousands in the middle of a field in Manchester, Tenn. 

But when Matt Berninger began crooning, "Walk away now / And you're gonna start a war," over Bryan Devendorf's steady, percussive beats I was no longer aware of the thousands of people, or the mud on my feet or the sweat sliding down my back, and my misgivings quickly dissipated. Something deep within me connected with the sadness, the loss and the intensity that comes with all that; and I was OK with being overwhelmed by it.

Halfway into the Brooklyn rock collective’s encore, an electric guitar-induced version of "About Today," tears had joined the sweat dripping down my face and I felt chills I couldn’t shake until I made my way back to my tent and took a moment to decompress.

The performance wouldn’t have been nearly as impactful if Berninger hadn’t transformed the band’s typically intimate, low-key set to fit the rock-out-till-you-pass-out Bonnaroo mold. While joking about intimacy and "hidden tenderness,” he was throwing plastic cups of wine into the crowd and drinking from a Solo cup. When the band performed "Available," a track from Sad Songs for Dirty Lovers, he let the tension build till he was throwing the mic stand off the stage, then the mic, eventually abandoning the platform entirely to crowd surf his way through the rest of the song.

Berninger walked out into the multitudes on several occasions throughout the hour-and-a-half long set, belting out bleak anthems alongside (sometimes carried by) the fans who have adopted them and made them their own. 

We all left the "Which" stage "on a blood buzz." Yes, we did.

Check out a gallery of photos from The National's Bonnaroo set here.