With 20 years and eight albums under their belt, The National now tick most of the boxes expected of a ‘Veteran Rock Band’. Their songs concern big important themes like growing old, American sprawl and true love; the compositions are full of scale and soaring crescendos that swell with occasional piano and string accents; and their influence is such that a new generation of artists including Taylor Swift and Phoebe Bridgers have sought them out as both collaborators and producers.
Indeed, they might have started out trying to sound like Pavement, but stitched together with Matt Berninger’s signature baritone, The National’s songs have always sounded cosier with Leonard Cohen or U2 comparisons; older than their time, wearier and worldlier than their peers, built around richly detailed character studies and dramatic sensibility. And so it may seem curious that the band were chosen as headline acts for the opening night act of The Warehouse Project, where the audience often skews significantly younger and more electronically-inclined than the dulcet tones of this very grown up indie rock.
It's not the first time The Warehouse Project has programmed beyond the usual remit of DJs and B2Bs, but it is certainly the furthest it has deviated from this core offer. Megan Thee Stallion kicked thing off last year, whilst LCD Soundsystem played a pair of opening night shows back in 2017, though both are still rooted in the urban/electronic sounds that the wider programme has come to celebrate.
