The National review, Glastonbury 2024: pitch perfect end to a long festival

As the end of a glorious set drew near, The National frontman Matt Berninger belied his 53 years and threw himself into the audience. Again. By my count it was the fourth time.

Except, on this occasion, at the crescendo to the band’s hit Terrible Love, he fully vaulted over the barriers in front of the stage and was properly surfing the crowd.

He loved it. We loved it. The only person at the Other stage at Glastonbury who not enthused was the poor roadie tasked with getting him safely back from his adoring fans, trying to reel him in with the microphone wire like a weary Captain Ahab.

Once back on stage, Berninger was so exhausted from the self-inflicted ordeal that he slumped on the microphone stand and was basically chewing it like a gobstopper when he sang.

As soon as the line-up revealed that the Ohio band were to play the last set of the weekend, you knew it would be pitch perfect at the end of a long festival. They didn’t disappoint.

They’ve deliberately leant into the whole “sad dad” thing with their mournful indie rock ballads and, while there were plenty of paternal-looking types singing their hearts out to bangers like Conversation 16 (“I’m evil”) and Day I Die on a cool Somerset night, there was a pleasing mix of male/female, young/old in force.

Berninger’s enthusiasm was tempered only when he was about to sing Fake Empire (with the lyrics “We’re half awake in a fake empire”) as he alluded to Donald Trump.

“This song keeps getting more and more appropriate,” he said. “That’s really depressing.”

Not that the sad dads cared. “Go on Matt!” cried the guy next to me. And on and on and on.