22 Thoughts On Homecoming 2023, Where The National Reasserted Their Might And Pavement Played Maybe Their Last Show Ever

1. Pavement should not open for the National. This was my steadfast conviction going into Saturday night. The first time the National held their Homecoming festival on the Cincinnati riverfront five years ago, I fully embraced my identity as a National Dad. I loved it. I love them. But still. Pavement are deities. The thought of them opening for anybody feels weird and wrong, and the thought of them opening for a band as earnest as the National felt even more bizarre.