The National play the same song 105 times at New York art gig – watch

The National played their song “Sorrow” live for six hours straight on Sunday (May 5) in New York.

The band played the High Violet track over and over in a collaboration with artist Ragnar Kjartansson called A Lot Of Sorrow. Click below to see fan-shot footage of one of the performances of the song.

The National ended up playing the track 105 times, reports Pitchfork, who add that drummer Bryan Devendorf sat out one take of the song.

On the Facebook page, the band commented, jokingly: “For the encore, The National played ‘Sorrow’.” The one-track setlist is pictured.

The show took place at Moma PS1 in Long Island City, New York. A press release from the gallery reads: “By stretching a single pop song into a day-long tour de force the artist continues his explorations into the potential of repetitive performance to produce sculptural presence within sound.”

It continues: “As in all of Kjartansson’s performances, the idea behind A Lot of Sorrow is devoid of irony, yet full of humour and emotion. It is another quest to find the comic in the tragic and vice versa.”

Last month The National played two songs from their forthcoming sixth studio album Trouble Will Find Me on Late Night With Jimmy Fallon.

The band release Trouble Will Find Me on May 20 via 4AD.

The National will play six gigs in the UK and Ireland this November:

Belfast Odyssey Arena (November 9)

London Alexandra Palace (13, 14)