Saturday 10/06/10 The National @ The Roundhouse, London

If there was a venue in London populated with more beards and plaid shirts per square metre than Camden’s Roundhouse on Saturday night, I’d like to have seen it. The National are in town, and, as expected, have attracted the sort of considered, alt-musos who long frequented Elbow’s shows before they went overground.

This is appropriate as the five-piece appear set to do just that. Like their English kindred spirits, the Ohio-raised, Brooklyn-based outfit bubbled under for years before a significant breakthrough catapulted them to fringes of the mainstream.

For Elbow’s sublime string-soaked 'One Day Like This' see The National’s 'Fake Empire'. Patronised by Barack Obama during his momentous election campaign (just when you thought he couldn’t get any hipper!), that exposure has quickly been cemented by the release of their third LP, 'High Violet'. A maelstrom of melancholy, twisted lyrics and chinks of hope which darkly dance across delicately constructed melodies and yearning harmonies – it’s a remarkable album, which stole many a heart at Glastonbury recently.

Here at The Roundhouse, preaching to the long and newly converted, The National soared once more. Led by the towering figure of baritone-boasting frontman Matt Berninger (who coincidently could pass for the slimmer, younger brother of Guy Garvey), the quintet mined all three albums judiciously with several highlights. 'Mistaken For Strangers' was as moving as 'Bloodbuzz Ohio' was gloriously anthemic, while the Joy Divison-esque 'Afraid Of Everyone' achingly explored the human frailties in all of us.

Understandably 'Fake Empire' was the most rapturously received – a Born In The USA for the sensitive, liberal, forward-thinking new generation of Americans who so heartrendingly got Obama into the White House in the first place. By this point Berninger had abandoned his position centre stage and dived into the raucous masses in front few rows while the Dessner and Devendorf brothers cooked up a storm behind him, beefed up by brassy blasts from the trumpeters.

Brooding new album opener 'Terrible Love' brought proceedings to a close in an encore, which also saw the Ohio singer pop up on a podium at the back of the arena - to much mirth and delight.
And while the absence of 'Lemonworld', arguably the finest track on 'High Violet', did jar – it was difficult to feel slighted after witnessing such an assured and imperious display, as I'm sure the smiles that permeated the various beards dotted all over Camden High Street afterwards attested.