Another great photo from the Beacon Theatre shows in December 2011.
it’s been a few weeks since i posted music photos. got some good shows coming up, but in the meantime, here’s another of the national
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The National 12/17/11 Beacon Theatre NYC on assignment for Q Magazine
Congrats on the Q assignment!
I have posted previously about these nights, and the importance they had in our lives - look forward to finding this issue of Q for the photos and article. Hey @Neckgear, we need to find this!
Neckgear and Playmixt went to the last two nights of The National’s 6-night run at the Beacon Theatre in New York City, December 16 and 17. It also happened to be the final nights of the HIGH VIOLET tour. We saw them five times on this tour, which was interesting because they went from 1,500-seat venues (like The National in Richmond) to 4,000-seaters in DC, then eventually the 18,000-seat venues like the Hollywood Bowl and Merriweather Post Pavilion. They blew up big, even though a lot of people still haven’t heard of them.
What very few people new about our NYC trip is that I planned to propose a marital merging of the Neckgear and Playmixt empires this very weekend. Conveniently enough, the band has been ending their shows with an unamplified singalong version of HIGH VIOLET’s closer, Vanderlyle Crybaby Geeks, as seen above from our excellent seats for the Friday night 12/16 show (our seats on Saturday 12/17 didn’t have as fine a vantage for video as we were on the floor). VCG happens to be Neckgear’s current favorite song. Neither of us is really sure what it’s about, but it’s lovely and compelling, and includes the line:
All the very best of us… string ourselves up for love…
Oddly enough, there was some weird foreshadowing to the proposal: in the section in front of us were a bride and groom - she still in her gown.
Earlier in the day, after learning a few things on a various & sundry topics, she enthusiastically said to me, “I’m learning so much today! We should hang out more often!” We’ve been together 8 years now, so this struck me as hilarious. Whatever script my mind had been working up went right out the window when she said this - I knew it was something I could use. With some prodding, she posted that quote to Facebook as a status update before the show.
After her phenomenal 10th work anniversary meal at Mario Battali’s Babbo restaurant, we went back uptown to the Beacon (a truly gorgeous theatre) for the show. At the conclusion of the Vanderlyle Crybaby Geeks singalong, I said this:
“I’ve been thinking about what you said earlier today - about hanging out more often. How about we do that… for the rest of our lives?”
With that, the blue box came out of the coat pocket, causing much astonishment on her part. An attempt at kneeling was made, but with the tight rows in the Beacon Theatre that was a bit much. The ring was proffered, and she accepted. We’re very excited and would like to thank all our friends and family for their support and kind wishes.
If you’d like to see more video we took from the Friday 12/16 show, go here. 4 songs total.
Tags | Beacon Theatre | The National | engage | merging empires | neckgear | playmixt | smoother than dulli | thenational |
"Travel tip for you rock & roll kids if you enjoy collecting show posters. When you need to get them home safely and you’ve forgotten to bring a tube (or the tube is too small), FedEx/Kinko’s will give you the big triangle tube box *for free,* as they naturally assume you’re going to eventually ship said box. The box is more than large enough to provide adequate poster protection for the ride home."
— Playmixt, poster collector not-quite-extraordinaire
There is a great deal more to report from this evening, coming soon. The National destroyed at the Beacon Theatre for 6 straight nights, of which we caught the last 2. In the meantime, you can read the below report.
Yes, celebrity sighting confirmation! Sorry, no neck gear in this post.Let’s talk about the highlights of The National’s final night at the Beacon Theatre 12/17/11…
I know I know all I’ve done this week it seems is gush about The National. But really I can’t help it…I just love them so much. Seeing The National 3 out of their 6 nights at the Beacon Theater with my best friend was fucking amazing. I can say without a doubt that it’s the best $150 I’ve ever spent. I think I enjoyed the 12/13/11 show the most but that’s probably because there was Annie Clark and Sharon Van Etten. Those are two ladies I’ll always welcome! It’s not to say this night wasn’t incredible in it’s own special little way because oh it most certainly was. I finally was sitting in the orchestra! I had been in different locations throughout the week. 12/13 I was in the loge, then 12/15 I was in the upper balcony and 12/17 it was the fricking orchestra (but just for future Beacon Theatre attendees it doesn’t matter where you sit, there isn’t one bad seat in the house). Being in the orchestra means everyone stands up and acts like it’s a general admission show which is an incredible thing. But I did have one total scary moment. When my friend and I were having our tickets swiped they were rejected and the guy was like go over to the ticket window. Turns out because the show was webcast-ed that certain orchestra seats no longer were seat-able and we were moved a row ahead and a bit to the left. Nothing wrong with that at all. Okay enough of this rambling…highlight reel time!
- Celebrity sightings! John Krasinski, Emily Blunt and Will Arnett! Yes I was the starstruck girl who freaked when she saw John and Emily walk to their seats. There was also a bride in attendance and a girl who I am pretty sure thought she was seeing PHISH. The whole time she kept screaming “Trey.” She must have missed the memo that Trey Anastasio was at the 12/16 show. Seriously she even kept telling her bf at one point that she saw Trey on stage. So weird.
- The set list again was very High Violet-y but hey there’s nothing wrong with that at all plus I finally got to hear The Geese Of Beverly Road, Mistaken For Strangers and About Today. I was waiting for those bad boys! The setlist went a little something like this: Thirsty, Karen, Mistaken For Strangers, Anyone’s Ghost, Bloodbuzz Ohio, Squalor Victoria, I’m Afraid Of Everyone, Conversation 16, The Geese Of Beverly Road, 90 Mile Water Wall, Abel, Rylan, Sorrow, Daughters Of The Soho Riots, England and Fake Empire.
- Umm the encore was just perfect too: About Today, Santa Clara, I Need My Girl, Mr. November (where Matty did his thang and visited the whole orchestra), Terrible Love and the way they closed every show, a group sing along of Vanderlyle Crybaby Geeks this time with special guests Sharon Van Etten and opening band This Is The Kit.
- Matty had a whole bottle of red wine to fill up his glass with! I love it! Gosh his stage antics are AMAZING. He busted out a lot of funny lines, mentioning how instead of a group of string players he thought they were gonna have people playing bongos and then he commented “I’d be more politically active if it wasn’t for bongos.” He also was very proud of The National’s ample trombone action and said “We have two trombone players, so fuck you. Bring it!” But the best thing he probably said all night was super sweet. It was about his lovely wife and he credited her for making their songs that much better. ”My songs got a lot better once I met my wife.” Oh did I mention he joked that The Beatles also helped out with High Violet lol? Such an adorable jester is the Berninger.
What can I say besides I want to relive this week. The National just served me the sky with a big slice of lemon and I can’t thank them enough for this NYC Beacon Theatre domination week. I want to go BAAAAAACK!
