It’s not for the first time that Cincinnati quintet, the National have opened for Barack Obama, but footage has today emerged of the band’s opening slot at a rally this past weekend for the current President in Des Moines, Iowa. You can watch fan footage of the band playing High Violet cut, Bloodbuzz Ohio, complete with a rather dapper, white suited Matt Berninger.
The Ohio quintet are well known for their support of Obama, way back to 2008, with Fake Empire featuring heavily at rallies, the Democratic National Convention and even so far as an instrumental version of the track appearing in Obama’s “Signs of Hope and Change” 2008 Campaign video. In the first year of Obama’s presidency, the band’s 2007 LP, Boxer, was also named by Obama as one of his favourite albums, alongside the likes of Bob Dylan. The band also played numerous opening sets during the 2008 campaign and in 2010 during the Mid-Terms.
Guitarist Aaron Dessner spoke of the “honour” to play for the President of the United States in an interview with Des Moines Metromix, explaining why the band played the show:
We all feel that 2008 was a historic, positive change for the country. There’s been some political gridlock and issues that come with the recession lasting, but we really feel there’s been a lot of positive movement and change that we can be really proud of. We’re very proud to be American and to have a president like President Obama. For us it’s really a no-brainer as far as supporting campaign and we’re terrified of going backwards towards the policies of the Bush era.
Watch the video below:
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