For those of us lucky enough to catch the gig of the year, it was last night in the Olympia where the National played their second night of a three night stint. According to reports, on thursday night the band weren’t fully prepared as they just about made it to the venue to appear on stage after an ardous bus journey from Shannon to Dublin after their plane was diverted. With no time for sound checks, it wasn’t till about a third of the way in that the sound finally came together. For us lucky souls though, the band were fully prepared and the sound was crystal clear from the get go so we could enjoy the full extent of Matt Berninger’s luscious, gravelly voice.

Support was by PHOSPHORESCENT, a Brooklyn-based band who appeared to be still trying to find their sound – it went from rock to country and back again! But when the National took to the stage, the atmosphere was so charged it could have lit up the whole country as they navigated their way through their newest album, High Violet, where every single song could be a hit and also threw in the best of the rest from their previous albums. The crowd were enthralled from start to finish loving every single second. Matt’s family were in one of the balconies and he told his cute, blonde-haired little girl that ‘daddys ok’ at one point. And need I say the encore was spectacular usually finishing on ‘Terrible Love’, we were treated to an extended encore finishing up on a stunning acoustic version of ‘Vanderlyle Crybaby Geeks’ as much sung by the audience as Matt himself. A truly epic gig. For those who get to go tonight, they are certainly in for a treat and for those who witness the Other Voices intimate gig in Dingle, it’s sure to be amazing.