The National / The War on Drugs / Lucius at Moda Center, Portland OR (2024-10-03)

Ahhh, musical nirvana!

Two of the biggest indie rock bands of the last decade have joined forces (along with a harmonizing pair of songbirds) to commence on their fall Zen Diagram Tour that has crisscrossed the country, and has been the first time either act has toured with others in this way

The National and The War on Drugs, along with Lucius brought their combined musical strength to the Moda Center in Portland, OR for a stirring, fun, and sonically brilliant evening.

We foretold of our journey all the way to the Left Coast to see this fine pairing as part of our Rocktober on the Road series, and we were very glad to have made the trip.

The National has become one of our favorites, having traveled last year to San Diego to catch their live show, back then in support of album, “First Two Pages of Frankenstein." Singer Matt Berninger’s baritone vocals interpreting his literary, often somber “sad dad” lyrics backed by the rhythmic Devendorf brothers and the mesmerizing, trainspotting complex guitar and piano work from the Dessner twins, all make for a unique musical recipe that is alluring, mature, and addictive. Their live album, Rome, captured in Italy this summer, is out in December.

Philadelphia’s The War on Drugs are addictive in their own way (no reference intended) – the guitar jam driven band with synth overtones and a masterful rhythm section, is playing some of the most compelling live rock today, and also has a recent live album out, Live Drugs Again, out just a few weeks ago.

But the night would begin with a short but charming set from Lucius, the LA-via-Brooklyn alternative pop band led by friends (and always very similarly dressed) Jess Wolfe and Holly Laessig, out in support of 2022’s Second Nature (out on Mom+Pop Records). We’ve been fans of the band since their beginnings fifteen years ago, seeing them then in tiny venues and even record store appearances, and most recently in 2019 in St. Paul, MN.

The pair has toured with Roger Waters on his couple outings among others, and their spot-on harmonies are enough in demand to have worked with numerous names of the day. “Nothing Ordinary” and “Tempest” began their set, both from 2013, with their new song, “Lucy” to follow, perhaps the preface to another new full-length.

To celebrate the tour, the group released “Old Tape” in August, a brand-new single featuring WoD singer guitarist Adam Granduciel guesting, and he would also come out to cheers to join on this live version. Their breakthrough 2013 album, Wildewoman also produced the set’s closing “Genevieve” as the pair waved goodbye in their matching shiny silver gowns.

Though not playing to a full arena-size crowd, The War on Drugs plays with a big, building sound that is custom-ready for venues of this bigger size. Like all acts, they were confined to a shorter set length than accustomed to when headlining, but the band made the most of their time, composing their tight-but-loose songs brick by musical brick with a concentrated meticulous effort, that was also unstructured enough to take its time and let the band clearly have fun as the volume increased.

Starting with 2010’s “Baby Missiles”, Granduciel’s Dylan-esque vocals still seemed glass smooth, with his guitar work driving the musical construction and found him going back to face his band mates or invade the space of keyboardist (and birthday boy on this night), Robbie Bennett. Bassist David Hartley had been replaced by their tour manger (due to recent Asheville NC flooding), but we found out during the set that Craig McQuiston could manage the group, as well as lay down a mean bassline that kept their musical momentum near-constant.

Sax player Jon Natchez punctuated songs at just the right moments, inserting a brief solo from his position near the back, amongst the rolling smoke and dazzling flashing lights. Things only got slower for 2021 ballad “I Don’t Wanna Wait” but quickly revved back up roaring guitar work on “Red Eyes” and the extended jam of “Strangest Thing.”

The lightheartedness of 2010’s “Comin’ Through” gave way to their signature song, “Under the Pressure” which builds and builds until drummer Charlie Hall breaks with a beat some seven minutes in, that sends everyone into a musical euphoria. As they did on the record (and intersecting between acts in a Venn Diagram way), Lucius appeared from the smoke to sing harmonies on “I Don’t Live Here Anymore”, the title track from the band’s masterful 2021 album, that found Granduciel and band stretching the live version out even further.

Though the “war” had just wrapped their set, longtime fans of The National were elated when they began their night closing set with 2007’s “Start a War”, an album rarity from their “Boxer” full-length, and a choice for a set opener, we hadn’t seen since maybe that album’s initial release.

The band, fronted by Berninger had again delivered a performance that was both intimate, emotional, and also scaled for this sized venue, He, dressed typically in a dark suit, wrapped his lanky arms around himself on “Eucalyptus”, paraded on stage amongst all the square-shaped lighting on “Tropic Morning News” and retreated to the back near the drums, as the Dessner brothers tore into their guitars, facing each other on “Don’t Swallow the Cap”.

Selections from 2010’s “High Violet” remain fan favorites, including the anthemic “Bloodbuzz Ohio” and later, the spiteful downpour of “England”, while “The System Only Dreams in Total Darkness” thrilled with its staccato guitars, fractured riffs, and poignant piano work.

We’ve often said the crew member that handles Berninger’s lengthy mic cord as he goes out into the audience, is the most valuable stagehand, and that was again the case as Berninger was out in front and then along the arena’s stage right side during 2010’s “Conversation 16.”

The so-called “creepy song of the night” (according to Berninger) was another rare nugget, 2007’s “Green Gloves” a dark song about remembering someone, and trying to reconnect. And cross-pollinating bands again to keep in theme with the tour’s name, WoD leader Granduciel returned to the stage once more, for an Echo and the Bunnymen cover that began and was played mostly authentic, but then evolved into another guitar jam exercise with Granduciel playing off against both Dessners.

“Graceless” kept energy high with its talk of “a science to walking through windows” and shades of the current political climate cast a long shadow on the still-relevant “Fake Empire,” to end the main set.

That same feeling (though more redeeming and joyful) extended into the beginning of the encore on “Mr. November” (which Berninger has re-titled “Madame November” at some previous gigs), moved on with growing scale on “Terrible Love” (with its wall-sized lyric of “it takes an ocean not to break”) and would end with the gentle and lamenting “About Today." It's a quiet song about the aftermath of a couple’s fight that would not seem like a encore-ending choice, but the live version grows and grows in scale and volume, into a vibrating horizon of noises and feedback that sounds like every last volt of remaining power was expunged.

Though we didn't get to see Lucius come out to sing on “Rylan” (like on some previous shows) and maybe an end jam with all three acts would have been interesting, The Zen Diagram Tour featuring The National, The War on Drugs, and Lucius did have some fun interactions, was high-caliber musically from all acts, and a kind of diagram we were happy to be located in the middle of, to witness it all.