‘Hard to Find’ fault with The National at Live at the Marquee

Now that Cincinnati’s finest have taken their lovely, gloomy love stories and hitched them to even catchier tunes like last night’s Marquee set opener, ‘Don’t Swallow the Cap’, the buzz is even better than ever.

Dressed in blacks and greys, the only colours that need apply are in the psychedelic ultrasound behind the stage, where we see distorted glimpses of singer Matt Berninger — Ah it’s a nose, it’s an eye, it’s a… beard. Oops!

Certainly in live terms, the bounce of the guitar riffs and in particular the signature sound of Bryan Devendorf’s pounding and playful drums set last night’s crowd bopping to the endless humiliations recounted in the slyly funny lyrics.