The National at Hollywood Forever Cemetery

August 11th is a special day, as it is Jeremy's Mom's birthday, and the birthday of one of our good friends. This date also falls part-way between my birthday and Jer's birthday, and this year on August 11th there was a band in town that we knew we wouldn't want to miss. So, back in April we bought tickets to see The National at Hollywood Forever Cemetery on August 11th, for a celebration of our birthdays. We were absolutely not disappointed.

Quite the interesting location for a venue, Hollywood Forever Cemetery is used often for shows, outdoor movies, and large parties, while also being exactly what it says it is- a cemetery. There is a stage set up at the front of a large lawn surrounded by tombstones, small mausoleums, and the very large walk-in Cathedral Mausoleum. We brought our outdoor blanket, a bottle of wine and some dinner, and made ourselves a picnic spot among the masses, not too far from the stage, nor too far from those six feet under.

Picnicking before the show.

The supposed 8:00 show started earlier than on time- opener Daughter started playing at 7:15, and The National started their set with I Should Live in Salt at 8:25! That is definitely my kind of show. (My mantra "early is on time, on time is late, and late is unacceptable" isn't typically part of the music industry.) They played a wide selection of 25 songs from a span of multiple albums, and thanks to Jeremy's influence and very long commutes to and from work together, I was familiar with every single song they played!

While I was enjoying keeping warm with a blanket over my lap at our picnicking spot, I wasn't able to see the stage from that position, as many people ("many" may be an understatement, it was a sold out show) stood up to be closer to the stage while The National played. I stood up to enjoy watching them play a few of my favorites- one of the highlights of the night (also happens to be one of their few happier songs) was "I Need My Girl." I will leave you with a stripped-down version of this beautiful song.