Popping his cork

The National's frontman Matt Berninger on his need for close audience interaction, and the gravitational pull of Taylor Swift

- RUSSELL BAILLIE

The one time I bumped into Matt Berninger, he was too busy to talk. Well, he was singing a song and heading to the bar. He had just taken leave of the stage of the Powerstation in Auckland. The rest of the National continued playing one of the wide-screen numbers from the band's 2010 breakthrough fifth album High Violet. He was still singing as he strode to the bar at the back of the room, microphone in hand. He swung himself over the bar, grabbed a bottle of red wine, opened it, then vaulted the bar again. He was heading back to the stage when he brushed past. He did look thirsty.

That 2012 gig was during a three-night stand at the Auckland venue. It was at a time when the Brooklyn band - some members, like Berninger, had headed to New York from Ohio - were trading the "critically acclaimed" tag for "biggest band in American indie rock".

Here, that rise meant the quintet, which had first crammed onto the tiny stage of Auckland pub the Kings Arms in 2008, were co-headlining Auckland City Limits at Western Springs in 2016. They played at Villa Maria Estate two years later when Berninger headed into the audience but left the winery's vats untroubled. They are back this month for arena shows, their first since the pandemic cancelled earlier tour plans.

These days - and after 10 studio albums, two of which came out last year - the National is a band in many camps, one that has won Grammys and influenced the recording careers of Taylor Swift and Ed Sheeran via the production sideline of guitarist Aaron Dessner. He produced much of Swift's Folklore and Evermore albums (the latter of which featured all five members of the National), as well as the re-recordings of her back catalogue. More on her later.