When The National announced a show at Stubb’s BBQ in Austin with a presale for Cherry Tree members, I decided to see if I could pull tickets. Before I knew it, I had a pair in my cart and we made the immediate decision to go. Of course, it seemed foolish to fly all the way to Austin for just that show, so we added a day at ACL Festival to our trip, where we would see The National again, along with many other artists.
We took an evening flight from Newark where we began our mini trip in the club lounge with complimentary drinks and snacks. Once boarded, I watched The National’s ACL performance from the previous week as well as the film Mistaken For Strangers, which I seem to always do whenever on a flight.
It was too late to go explore the city by the time we arrived at our hotel, so we went out early the following morning to check out the venue, do some record shopping and have tacos!
We decided to walk over to the venue again after lunch, just to see if a queue had formed. There were about 3 people there already, so we decided we might as well stay. We had VIP tickets which meant we would have access to a private bar & complimentary food, but it also allowed us to enter through a different entrance. Unfortunately this entrance was further away than the regular one, and we were concerned that we might not end up on the rail. The security guards assured us that we would be let in a few minutes before regular GA and as a result, we ended up center rail for the show. Alvvays were the support act, they were entertaining, but this night was all about The National. We were not queuing for their festival performance the following day, and were hoping this smaller show would be extra special, and it was. The setlist was phenomenal, it was one of the greatest shows we’ve ever attended.
