Lollapalooza, Day Three: The National Soothe Sun-Baked Masses

Photograph by Rory O'Connor

For those Lollapalooza-goers whose senses were a bit overloaded from three full days of music and scorching summer sun, there was no better remedy than The National, who held court early Sunday evening at the festival's north end. Through the gradually deepening dusk, the New York fivesome wove shimmering sheets of indie guitar pop, with the brooding voice of Matt Berninger embodying the beauty of melancholy. And though Berninger's vocals are sometimes a dead ringer for Ian Curtis's, The National provided a warmer musical context than Joy Division ever did. The gentle but insistent beat of "Slow Show" gathered steam as Berninger crooned, "I wanna hurry home to you... and crack you up so you can put a blue ribbon on my brain." The gorgeous "Ada," with its harp-like keyboards and graceful horn fills, meanwhile, had the audience singing along to its whispery chorus, "Leave it all up in the air..." Whatever might have been ailing you, whether sunburn, hangover or Lollapalooza fatigue, the National brought sweet relief. -- MOIRA McCORMICK