Top 5 moments from National Homecoming 2023
Standing in Cincinnati’s Smale Park, taking in two full days of top-notch live music, it didn’t feel like five years had passed since the inaugural National Homecoming.
Weren’t we just down by the banks of the Ohio River, the majestic John A. Roebling Suspension Bridge behind us as we ping-ponged between two stages featuring Father John Misty, Feist, Future Islands, The Breeders, Moses Sumney, and Julien Baker? Had it really been 2018 when The National played through Boxer in its entirety, part of the festival hosts’ memorable consecutive night sets?
Aiding the timeline disorientation was the pandemic-canceled 2020 edition of Homecoming, as well as a physical shift to the ICON Festival Stage portion of Smale Park for the Sept. 15-16 event. Though opportunities to view the performers while seated sharply declined in the new location, nearly everything else about the set-up was an improvement over the previous incarnation.
The single stage and half hour break between acts meant no rushing between two options, sacrificing the end of one or start of another. And while the lack of shade proved punishing until a sliver of cool emerged from the stage corner in the late afternoons, the ability to escape to the air-conditioned Eden of the adjacent Brady Music Center during set breaks allowed for sufficient recuperation.
Likewise laudable was what felt like an intentionally dialed back attendance capacity to match the reduced surface area — at least until the hometown heroes started rocking each night at 8:30 p.m., during which it felt like every music lover in southern Ohio and northern Kentucky was present.
It was a fulfilling and exhausting weekend, and out of the hours of visual and sonic delights, these standout moments emerged:
Hamilton Leithauser loafs around
Strange as it was seeing The Walkmen — one of two bands on the lineup to whom The National clearly owe a debt — play for a mere 45 minutes in the Friday afternoon sun, the rockers made every second count. Back on tour after a lengthy hiatus, the ensemble ripped through its hit-filled catalog — including the masterful “We’ve Been Had,” improbably the first song the group wrote together — with an energetic Leithauser captivating the crowd from center stage.
While his bandmates launched into the revved-up instrumentation of “The Rat,” the frontman asked if anyone needed a snack, walked to the side stage, and returned with multiple baguettes, which he proceeded to launch into the sea of attendees. As he clocked back in, festival-goers pulled off pieces of bread and threw the remaining segments to another sector, eventually resulting in a few unintentional beanings.
Baked-goods-induced concussions aside, I now get why Asheville Stages director of photography Jonny Leather loves these guys so much.
Patti Smith wins the Spelling Bee
Proving with opener “People Have the Power” that her voice sounds as strong as ever, the icon firmly established herself as a force early and often in Friday’s penultimate slot. Whether through her passionate reading of Allen Ginsburg’s “Footnote to Howl,” paying tribute to dearly departed friends Tom Verlaine of Television (with a cover of his “Guiding Light”) and her late husband Fred “Sonic” Smith (via her own ‘Because the Night”), or covering “After the Goldrush” and updating Neil Young’s eco-activism for the 2020s, Smith kept the festival crowd rapt with stage presence galore and empowering words of encouragement.
But it was her supercharged closing rendition of “Gloria” and its energetic build to the climactic “G-L-O-R-I-A” section that provided the set’s highlight. Getting the already amped-up crowd in on the alphabet action, Smith offered a near-ideal lead-in to The National’s opening night performance — and it wasn’t the last we’d see of her that evening.
Julia Jacklin beats the heat
Third on Day Two’s lineup, the Australian singer/songwriter made an instant impact, building an appealing tapestry of vocals and five-piece instrumentation. While her lead guitarist melted in his black sweater, apparently needing to lose a few pounds for an upcoming wrestling match, Jacklin entranced the mid-afternoon crowd with her fine-tuned lyrics and melodies, particularly the honey-sweet chorus of “Don't Know How to Keep Loving You.”
The day’s subsequent female-led groups simply couldn’t compete: Snail Mail’s story of a recently-fired keyboardist was more entertaining than anything in her subdued set, and Weyes Blood’s chill symphonic ways proved an odd fit for the afternoon light. Neither appeared motivated to adapt their indoor sounds for the outside setting, and while Jacklin didn’t make a ton of adjustments, they were enough to suggest she’s ready for bigger venues.
Pavement retires (?)
Eight days after blessing downtown Raleigh during the Hopscotch Music Festival — a week during which they played four consecutive nights at Brooklyn Steel — Pavement took to the stage as Saturday’s next to last act and arguably the most anticipated group on the weekend’s bill (The National included). From the get-go, the reunited rockers made good on that potential in their distinct quirky, nonchalant ways, delivering song after song of committed takes, including “Stereo,” “Summer Babe,” “Spit on a Stranger,” and especially “Harness Your Hopes.”
Amusing at frontman Stephen Malkmus was at Hopscotch, he was in full standup comedian mode at Homecoming, cracking wise between practically every song. But in the wake of a full week of shows, the whole band seemed looser and more confident in their abilities, with class clown Bob Nastanovich (donning a Glenn “Big Dog” Robinson jersey from his Milwaukee Bucks days) moving more nimbly across the stage and photo pit, hyping up his bandmates and the crowd.
The thrilling showcase helped ease Nastanovich’s court jester pronouncement of it being “the last Pavement show for a while,” words that Malkmus didn’t refute — but considering the band’s penchant for decade-long breaks, were contradictions necessary? Whether they don’t play another gig for five or 10 years — or ever — the group’s legacy was secure long before they stepped foot in Cincinnati (or the RTP).
The National win the marathon
Making good on their 2020 Homecoming programming, the festival organizers honored the 10th anniversary of High Violet with a belated celebratory performance to kick off their Friday night set, which found them ably navigating such challenges as playing frequent show-closer “Terrible Love” first and reaping the benefits of a finely-mixed horn section throughout the record’s sequential run.
A jaw-dropping “I Need My Girl” duet between Smith and National vocalist Matt Berninger heralded the second phase of the 2.5-hour set, during which the band showed that — with the exception of “Eucalyptus” — the laid-back tracks off April release First Two Pages of Frankenstein and its surprise Monday accompaniment Laugh Track don’t translate to a live setting nearly as well as tried-and-true jams like “Mr. November,” “Fake Empire,” and “The System Only Dreams in Total Darkness.”
Still, we’re talking 2.5 hours of one of the best currently active bands, complete with Berninger stalking the stage like he owns the damn place, and somehow they returned the following night to do it all over again — albeit subbing in an on-time decade tribute to Trouble Will Find Me. Anchored by catalog peak “Pink Rabbits,” no other National collection highlights the group’s variety of tempos and styles so thoroughly and in such coherent fashion, and witnessing it play out in track-list order (complete with commentary by guitarist/keyboardist Aaron Dessner on which numbers prove particularly challenging live) was a dream come true.
The accomplishment in the proverbial bag, The National repeated a few selections from Friday, readying themselves for the following week’s start to a European tour promoting Frankenstein and Laugh Track, while also dipping back into Boxer and even the star-studded 2009 compilation Dark Was the Night for “So Far Around the Bend,” which they dedicated to Pavement.
Despite the overlaps and the audience fatigue that set in as the homecoming kings squeezed in as much music as possible before the 11 p.m. noise ordinance took effect, hearing 60 (?!?) songs, all originals, from musicians who are “that band” for a wide swath of listeners wasn’t lost on those in attendance.
Let’s do it again in 2025.
(Photos by Ben Gastright)
