The National have almost delivered the perfect live album with ‘Rome’, which positions you side stage for a career-spanning show where these unlikely world-conquerors breathe entirely new life into cuts old and new.
Taken from their June 2024 performance at the Cavea, an outdoor space at the Auditorium Parco della Musica in Rome, the 21 tracks here have been lifted from a 26 song set. The only shame here is that those remaining five selections, including the main set’s closing number, have been sequestered on a very limited vinyl version of the record, leaving a lingering feeling of something almost, but not quite, definitive.
We get the first 11 songs undisturbed — from the slow-burning, golden-hued opener Runaway to the feverish Lit Up — before the standard edition dips in and out, showing no mercy to live staples such as Day I Die and Conversation 16 while puncturing the listeners’ suspension of disbelief.
But to focus only on the gaps would be to overlook the majesty of what we do get. Thanks to long-time collaborator Peter Katis’s carefully-plotted mix, there is a perfect balance between the band’s performances and the crowd’s reactions.
You are right there under Roman skies as the Dessner brothers chop it up behind Matt Berninger, who serves as a master of ceremonies, guiding us through an evening of emotional highs and lows.
If you have ever thought of The National as one-note sad dad indie, ‘Rome’ does a lot of legwork to dispel that myth. Old stagers Fake Empire and Mr November have more fire in their bellies than usual, while Don’t Swallow The Cap and England have apparently hit the gym, appearing beefed-up next to their studio counterparts.
Closing number Vanderlyle Crybaby Geeks is proof enough that The National have outgrown their long-held underdog status. Performed acoustically, and entirely sung by the crowd, it’s a goosebump-inducing finale that shows their power. It’s a fitting way to close out an almost flawless live document of a unique band.
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