Virgin Mobile Free Fest Pics Part 3 (The National, Girl Talk, and Franz Ferdinand)

The National at Virgin Mobile Free Fest (08/30/09)

Photos: PJ Sykes

Yes, some genius event planner decided to give The National an hour slot at the Virgin Mobile free festival. Yes, we should all send him a thank you note, because the National was hands down the best thing the festival had to offer all day. With each performance, Brooklyn’s The National proves to be one of the finest live acts in recent memory. Their slow building, clean, elegant sound evokes a spine tingling effect in the audience, something which very few bands are capable of inducing. As guitars build off of each other, bass creeps in, but not overpowering the brilliance of Brian Devendorf’s slick rhythms. Matt Berninger’s low vocals tell nostalgic tales of youth and love lost atop it all, beginning with a sense of serenity and understanding, which eventually caves in on itself as he yells red faced into the microphone. Then, to insure that Berninger’s yelps don’t get too out of hand, a lush horn section helps to alleviate some of the pain. To paraphrase the brilliant “All The Wine,” God is on their side, and if he isn’t, he damn well should be. This here, is a group of guys who have got it down, and as they played through cuts from Boxer, Alligator, and even a selection from Sad Songs For Dirty Lovers, quite simply, they owned it. Even a new tune, “Blood Buzz Ohio”, sounded great. The National “won’t fuck us over” and if you see them live, then neither will you. [Consequence of Sound]

More photos of The National, Girl Talk and Franz Ferdinand from the 2009 Virgin Mobile Free Fest after the jump.

The National at Virgin Mobile Free Fest (08/30/09)