The National now sees “bewildered” Taylor Swift fans at shows

Some Swifties are entering their indie rock era at The National shows.

Since guitarist Aaron Dessner has started collaborating with Taylor Swift, The National frontman Matt Berninger has noticed more fans of the pop superstar attending their concerts.

“We see a lot of Taylor Swift fans coming to shows and being bewildered by the first 25 minutes or so,” Berninger tells NME. 

“We’ve been blessed with demographics that are across the spectrum,” he continues. “Then 10 or 15 years ago, a lot of younger people started coming [to our shows] – more and more women. The first 10 years was kind of a dude-fest at most of our shows, but that’s changed a lot. At our shows we have all kinds of old friends and they’re always different.”

Dessner worked on Taylor’s albums folklore, evermore and THE TORTURED POETS DEPARTMENT, and The National as a whole is featured on the evermore cut “coney island.” However, in response to a question about the possibility of Taylor showing up to perform at a National show, Berninger says, “I don’t think so.”

“It is fun – that whole bridge has been a really, really fruitful thing for our whole band, not just Aaron,” he says. “Obviously, Aaron’s been having such a great time and making so much great stuff with her, and the Taylor Swift bridge has been there for a long time. But no, we’re not.”