Uninspiring, functional and soulless – these are just three ways of describing Edinburgh’s Corn Exchange. A quick glance at any book of antonyms offers a wealth of adjectives to accurately describe The National, however. Captivating, heartfelt and raw would be a good place to start.

For an Edinburgh crowd in the midst of the annual disorder that is the Fringe, the 21 song set embarked with an atmosphere that was at best, modest, and at worst, flat.

Slow-burner 'Runaway' was the opener to a set list that undulated gloriously at times between the very old, by National standards, and the bang up to date - equally between Matt Berninger’s eerie mumble and those full on vocal chord shredding moments that appear to only find a home when The National are in a live setting. 'Bloodbuzz Ohio' came and went in a flash, Berninger shuffling around the stage flanked by the band’s guitar backbone of brothers Aaron and Bryce Dessner. 'Squalor Victoria' soon followed with a rumbling, extended drum intro and concluded in a frantic, screaming, convulsive display from Mr. Berninger.

He soon mellowed as the band explained the constraints of having to air “the hits” when undertaking the arduous festival circuit. As it was their first Edinburgh show, straight off the back of a string of European festivals, we were treated to some more obscure, but vintage National. 'Son' was followed by the gorgeous 'Wasp Nest' which in turn merged into a medley of 'Available'/'Cardinal Song'. There was even room for 'Lucky You' and how right they were; it was a rare treat to hear earlier, gentler National songs amongst anthemic gems like 'England'.

Excitement soon followed with a blistering rendition of 'Mr. November' which saw the ever-fidgety Berninger climb the speaker stacks and proceed to bury his head through a ceiling tile. There is something quite striking about hearing “I won’t fuck us over, I’m Mr. November” when all you can see is a plaid shirt and waistcoat. He claimed there were bodies up there and given the Corn Exchange’s reputation, nothing would come as a surprise.

By stark contrast, the final song of the night was a stripped down, audience singalong of 'Vanderlyle Crybaby Geeks' – the closer from 2010’s High Violet. Acoustic guitars, brass, minimal percussion and a Matt Berninger deprived of his microphone softly sang the audience home. There was only  one real qualm of The National’s first-rate, maiden Edinburgh performance - couldn’t they have checked to see if the Picture House was free?