LIVE: The National and This is the Kit Wrap Up Tour With an Operatic Show at Chicago's Civic Opera House
The National and This is the Kit ended their tour at Chicago’s Civic Opera House with an operatic and dynamic show.
This is the Kit, the brainchild of Kate Stables, warmed up a full house at the Civic Opera House on Wednesday night. Their 30 minute set started with the lead track off This is the Kit’s 2017 album Moonshine Freeze, “Bullet Proof,” with Stables’ flawlessly smooth vocals ringing out into the magnificent theater. For the remainder of the set, the Sad Saxes joined the rest of the band to deliver an extra layer of dynamics to the harmonious group, and Aaron Dessner of The National even joined the lineup. Dessner had not only produced This is the Kit’s prior album Bashed Out, but lent his musical skills to their latest record. Live, the title track “Moonshine Freeze” took on a bold arrangement with a call and response effect between Stables and Rozi Plain of the group. Concluding their gentle performance that acted as the perfect way to ease the crowd into The National’s set, Stables thanked not only the crowd, but the entire crew of the tour, mentioning that the last night of tour was bittersweet.
Before The National hit the stage, Marty Lennartz of 93 XRT introduced the band as the perfect outfit to play at such a grand venue like the Lyric Opera House. Between their wide ranging sonic soundscapes and lead singer Matt Berninger’s sweeping vocal range that cuts right through you, The National filled the space perfectly and lived up to Lennartz’s introduction. Leading up to the operatic and emotional two hour show, the backdrop showed video of the band leaving their dressing room and making their way to the stage, and throughout the night the backdrop shifted to different videos and colored lights. Opening with “Nobody Else Will Be There,” the first part of the setlist payed homage to the band’s 2017 album Sleep Well Beast, which came out in September. Although the tour was in support of the latest record and the majority of those 12 tracks were scattered throughout the setlist, songs from The National’s other six studio albums and back catalog were sprinkled in between the newest songs. Among the old favorites that made their way onto the setlist of The National’s second sold out night in Chicago, “Lemonworld,” “Fake Empire,” and “Pink Rabbits” received some of the biggest reactions. The crowd stayed with the band the whole time, hooked on the way that the tone could switch from a haunting piano melody and delicate vocals in a song like “Carin at the Liquor Store” to Berninger’s growling vocals and the amplified “Squalor Victoria.”
Between the magnetic energy of Berninger's stage presence, the one-of-a-kind setlist, and the beauty of the venue, the closing night of The National’s tour proved to be another magical night for live music in Chicago. Check out photos from the special evening below, and keep up with all of The National news here.
