The National Celebrates Their Music Over The Years

The National played at the Pavilion at the Toyota Music Factory on November 19th. Come with us as we give you the rundown on their career and growth as a band.

The indie rock band, The National, finished up their tour in America at the Pavilion at the Toyota Music Factory in Irving, Texas. Even though this tour was dedicated to their two most recent albums, First Two Pages of Frankenstein and Laugh Track, both released in 2023, the band decided to play songs from all of their albums from their career. Treating it as a look back at all they have accomplished and as an ode to their fans. With this being their 10th headlining tour, they knew they had to make it special. With stunning visuals and a set list curated to the crowd, it was a night to remember. 

Joining them on their American dates were Hand Habits, who also gave a visually stunning performance. Warming up the crowd with their poetic songs and emotion-driven performance, Hand Habits was a great opener and a great artist for fans of The National to discover if they had not yet done so. With the release of their latest EP, Sugar the Bruise, they were able to play songs from the EP and some from their past albums as well. 

The National got their start in 1999 in Cincinnati, Ohio with Matt Berninger, Aaron Dessner, Scott Devendorf, and Bryan Devendorf. They were able to release their first studio release “The National” in 2001 when band member Aaron and his twin brother, Bryce Dessner, who would also join the band, created their own independent record label called Brassland Records. With their mixture of sounds including country-rock, Americana, pop, and post-punk, they were able to form quite the fan base after their 2001 album. In 2007, the band grew even more after their fourth release and first full-length album, Boxer.

Over the years, The National has accomplished many things and has had quite a few milestones. They have been nominated for 10 different awards, two being in the Best Alternative Music Album categories for Trouble Will Find Me in 2014, and won with Sleep Well Beast in 2018. They have also reached the Billboard Music charts by ranking at number 68 on their Top 200 list in 2007 and number 3 in 2010 and also ranked number one on the U.S. Top Rock Albums chart in 2019. They went on to collaborate with many artists over their 24 years of music, but the biggest and most recent collaboration was in 2020 when they appeared on the song Coney Island with Tylor Swift on her album Evermore. They have also collaborated with Bon Iver, Phoebe Bridgers, and Arcade Fire’s Richard Reed.