THE NATIONAL
Esplanade Theatre, Singapore
November 6, 2011
Now there are a number of reasons (or excuses) why this video isn’t as good as I’d like it to be, but I’ve decided I wouldn’t make excuses and post this anyway, because if I dwelt on those, I would probably never post this.
This is now the second video I have shot and edited.
It was shot with my Lumix (Panasonic LX5) and edited on iMovie. Yes, my tools are spartan like that, if that wasn’t made apparent in my amateurish video.
Anyway, my amateurism did not hamper me from attempting an ambitious video, an “artistic” expression of sorts.
What I had actually attempted to do here was a sort of convergence of the moments leading up to, and following the most :-O moment of the show.
So I tried to add some twist to it by trying to “rewind” footage I had from after the show, and cutting that and spreading it between normal playing footage of the show. :P
By no means do I deny the raw, unfinished, amateur, home-videoesque quality of this, with my low-res shots, almost singular angle, not synchronized real audio editing, and rough audio transitions from live audio and an integrated music track. HA HA.
Oh fuck it. Just watch if you’re interested, and don’t if you aren’t really willing to bear watching 4 minutes of this. And if you do watch this and feel that you must say something, feel free to comment. I stop disclaimering now. *Bracing myself*
THE NATIONAL
live at the Esplanade Theatre, Singapore - 11.06.11
•••
I was hoping to complete this post in time for the first weeksary since The National’s concert in Singapore. Alas, editing the video that was supposed to come along with this post is taking me much longer than I thought it would, so I’ll have to put that off until I have time to dedicate to it again.
In the meantime, my camera (which I used mostly for video-shooting alone) apparently saves JPEGs of the first frame of each video. Hence my above photo set.
•••
I’m not inherently the type of person who would cross seas to watch a band/musician, no matter who he/she/they are. But for more personal reasons, I really wanted to see The National perform live.
I was one of those individuals made bitter and resentful on the day before my flight to Singapore last March to watch The National when I received news that they cancelled their Asian tour (valid excuse being the tsunami in Japan). Luckily, they scheduled another concert this year. And in spite of schedule conflicts with the business, after consulting with my team, I got my concert tickets. I booked my flight. And I braced myself for November 6, 8pm, because anything could happen before the concert actually began.
But a few minutes after 8pm, I saw the real Matt Berninger step on stage, and people went berserk and rushed toward the stage, myself included. They began the set with Runaway, voiced apologies for not making it last March, continued performing the epic set including a couple of my favorites, Slow Show and Apartment Story, and a screamy Squalor Victoria, among other hits mostly from Boxer and High Violet.
They also had not 1, not 2, not even 3, but 4 (FOUR!!) songs for their encore! Sulit!!
And for their 3rd encore song, Terrible Love, Matt Berninger suddenly came down from the stage and proceeded to walk on top of the theatre seats, cutting across the whole venue. Dare I say that it was akin to Jesus walking on water? I do.
People REALLY went berserk at this point, and when Matt was walking back to the stage, I managed to touch his shoulder :”> but that’s nothing compared to the BEAR HUG our friend Kathy Gener gave him. :P
The National calmed the crowd down and closed the show with a heart-rending, stripped down rendition of Vanderlyle Crybaby Geeks, bringing grown men close to tears and leaving us a little depressed that one of the best shows ever was now over. Nonetheless, I’m just glad I’m a witness to just how awesome/epic/all-those-overused-but-totally-apt-for-this-occasion words it was.
Looking forward to more epicness,
Jen
