Matt Berninger doing his tortured baritone thing at the Paramount Tuesday night.
Matt Berninger doing his tortured baritone thing at the Paramount Tuesday night. They'll also play tonight. Matthew Lamb

“We’re half awake in a fake empire” is the sobering refrain on the opening track of The National’s 2007 studio LP, Boxer. It’s been 10 years since Matt Berninger penned that Didion-esque line. What did it mean? And does it still hold true today?

In any case, the melodic cocktail of The National’s depressive realism and knack for beautiful compositions makes them a perfect posterchild for such a strange time in our nation. And judging by the reaction of the crowd when the National starting playing "Fake Empire" at the Paramount last night, the song is still a favorite either way.

The National's seventh and latest album, Sleep Well Beast, which just scooped up a couple Grammy nominations, was on full display in their set, starting with their jangly single, “The System Only Dreams in Total Darkness."

During his long career as The National's frontman and primary song writer, Matt Berninger has seemed intrigued by a few recurring motifs: the nature of consciousness, and a tendency to give approving nods to bucking the system.

Berninger (who's also been recording as part of indie-rock supergroup EL VY) has been bringing a cerebral introspection and lyrical grit to college rock for many years, and his live vocals are still raw and untouched by effects. His “Men’s Warehouse guy” baritone (as he joked last night) has a charming way of being off pitch and cracking when he escalates into the climax of a song, yelling until he’s red in the face while cavorting with his mic stand.

Under the kaleidoscopic sky of their light show, Berninger pulled out all his signature moves: drinking a shit ton on stage (sometimes two bottles of wine at once), delivering witty banter in his forlorn, monotone manner, and getting off stage to walk into the General Admission-ticketed (and, not surprisingly, very white) crowd and stir things up a bit. There was a SNAFU moment after his earpiece device came off and he had to have a stagehand tuck it back into the asscrack of his pants, spurring him to quip, “It’s hard to look cool like this, thanks Doc!”

The two sets of brothers in the band know how to rip on their instruments (tastefully, not masturbatorily). Bryan drives a hard, dexterous drum bargain with arguably one of the most distinguished styles out there, while his brother Scott (bass) and the Dressner twins (Aaron and Bryce, guitar) demonstrate discerning tone and riff acuity.

Of course, the whole cadre knows when to tone it down as well. Another signature move which they left us with last night is their version of “Vanderlyle Crybaby Geeks”—performed acoustically with all members front and center where they gently guide the crowd through verses like “Leave your home / Change your name / Live alone / Eat your cake” and then hand off the chorus “All the very best of us / String ourselves up for love.” They wave goodbye and exeunt.