It all started one day when I was flipping through the pages of LA Weekly. My girlfriend at the time wouldn't stop pestering me about going to a good show. I thought to myself, "I'm going to rise to occasion, find a new band & impress this woman". My fingers flipped through the pages like an olympic sprinter in a gold medal race, I knew exactly where I was headed. Suddenly it caught my eye, the week's calendar for "Spaceland":http://clubspaceland.com, where I tried to spend most of my music-going nights in Smog City. I was looking for a show on a Thursday evening, as my schedule & job at the time allowed my weekend on Thursday & Friday. The headlining band of the evening, Brooklyn-based "The National". These gentleman, consist of 5 members, two brotherly duos (Dessner & Devendorf) and frontman Matt Berninger. Of course...before commiting to another show & drive to Spaceland, I did my research. Turns out all of these guys are educated & had good jobs before embarking on a career in the music business in 1999. I managed to download a few songs (yes, legally) and got my first taste of what they would offer. Their most recent album _Alligator (2005)_, is dark & nostalgic but leaves you with a feeling of hope. A few standout tracks worth checking out; "Abel", "Daughters of the SoHo Riots", and "Mr. November"--but collectively, the whole album was stood out for me in 2005. It's defintiely one of those "i'm forging ahead, looking towards the future" type of bands. So onward to Spaceland I went, "The National":http://americanmary.com was headlining. My girlfriend and I arrive, i'm smoking a cigarette outside the venue & notice 5 scruffy looking dudes unloading their equipment from their van & moving it into the small venue. I mention to Berninger that i'm looking forward to seeing them live for the first time & he is quite cordial. He says something to the extent of, "we really enjoy playing Spacleand, I hope you enjoy seeing us play". We watch the opening band Talk Demonic (also quite interesting), and then move our way towards the stage. The National begins playing at 11:15 and continue until the venue makes them stop...sometime around 2:15am. Initially they were to stop before 2am, but the crowd engaged them so much that they ignored the venue...or so it seemed. An amazing live show it was, the band has this akward stage presence. They seem apathetic to what they are playing until the chorus/bridge hits, then they jerk and rock around & get the crowd moving.A year later, I have moved to San Francisco. They played Great American Music Hall last Thursday, and I opted to buy a ticket. While I didn't enjoy them as much, I'm attributing it to the venue. It's an awesome venue, but too big for my taste. I still remember when I had the chance to see them with 100 people (as opposed to a few thousand). However, after striking up a conversastion with the merch-girl on Thursday, she did give me a free shirt!Here's to the National, a band that makes music for music' sake."The National on Myspace":http://myspace.com/thenational