My belated observations following All Points West 2009:National (Friday): Rain starts to flow as band launches into “Start a War.” A cleansing, soft rain persists throughout the perfect set – standouts include “Secret Meeting” and “Squalor Victoria” – until the end, when rain picks up during “Fake Empire” and pours as the band concludes with “Mr. November.” Singer Matt Berninger, not known as Mr. Exciting, jumps into the audience, screaming “I’m the new blueblood / I’m the great white hope” as the rain soaks him. “I used to be carried in the arms of cheerleaders” takes on new meaning as he is thronged by soaked fans. Intense moment, as even the National doubters glimpsed the future. What impresses me is Berninger is so exhausted from his trip to the fans he can not climb back on stage and is assisted by bandmates. Talk about leaving everything out there.Vampire Weekend (Friday): Rain picks up. So much so the band gets soaked. But they rock, in that low-key Vampire way. Singer Ezra Koening is a bit more exciting that Berninger, but still no Karen O. (see YYY). Key moments – “A Punk” with its raincoat references truly connecting to the now drenched audience; a communal chant of “Blake’s got a new face” on “One”; and the closing, best-Vampire song “Walcott” literally ending the rain as we all screamed about escaping Cape Cod. Good, not great.Yeah Yeah Yeahs (Friday): No Jay Z fan, this was my day’s headliner, and they earned the status (among everyone there). Karen O hasn’t changed from the crazy, writhing, strike-a-pose woman I first saw in 2004. She scorched the stage, the fans – everyone. The band blasted into “Heads Will Roll” and other early highlights included blistering, house-beat enhanced versions of “Cheated Hearts” and “Zero” (with a pause for Karen to don her leather). A tender, true, acoustic version of “Maps” followed (they did it again at Lollapalooza, they did it better at APW), with the soaking fans screaming “they don’t love you like I love you.” Closing with a real version of “Y Control” (just the three of them, no housebeats), the YYY stole the show, and besides Coldplay and some single moments later in the weekend (Tokyo Police Club, St. Vincent), stole the festival. More to folo…