The National add second London date to 2023 UK tour

The National have added a second London date to their 2023 UK tour after the first show sold out in just two hours.

The band, who are set to return with their new album ‘First Two Pages Of Frankenstein’ in April, have added the extra gig due to ticket demand.

• READ MORE: The National on new music: “It’s the whole history of the band, but with a new exploration”

The National will now headline London’s Alexandra Palace on September 27 as well as the day prior. The shows are part of a wider UK and European tour, which will see them play in Dublin, Leeds, Glasgow, and more cities across the continent.

Tickets for the new date are on sale now and are available to purchase here. Soccer Mommy will support the band at all UK and Ireland gigs on the tour.

Extra dates have also been announced for the band’s US tour in Chicago, Los Angeles, Philadelphia and Denver. You can find more details on those gigs and buy tickets here.

‘First Two Pages Of Frankenstein’ will be released on April 28 via 4AD and feature cameos from Taylor Swift, Phoebe Bridgers and Sufjan Stevens. Swift will appear on ‘The Allcott’ while Bridgers is set to feature on ‘This Isn’t Helping’ and ‘Your Mind Is Not Your Friend’. Stevens, meanwhile, will be a guest on the album opener ‘Once Upon A Poolside’.

The album announcement earlier this month was accompanied by the release of the new song ‘Tropic Morning News’. The track was co-written with frontman Matt Berninger’s wife, Carin Besser, and takes its title from a phrase Besser invented to describe the regrettably routine practice of doomscrolling.

Speaking to NME about new music last year, The National’s guitarist Bryce Dessner said: “What I can say is that we’re at a high watermark in terms of our creativity as a band. There’s a lot happening, and a lot of music. We’re allowing ourselves to dream about it, take risks, try things and give the songs time to develop.”

Explaining that the new material featured traces of elements from their past records, he added: “The songs are vulnerable and direct like on ‘Boxer’, but with experimental moments like ‘Sleep Well Beast’ and raw moments like ‘Alligator’. In a way, it’s the whole history of the band but with a new exploration in it. Some of them are our most accessible, others are more poetic with different arrangements.”

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