Yahoo! and the Houston Chronicle called it “dreadful.” The Washington Post
dubbed it “a version that made you want to curl up in the corner
and drunk text an ex.” But however you choose to describe The Fray’s
swirling, acoustic take on “The Star-Spangled Banner” at the NCAA
title game on Monday, few will argue the experiment worked.
“Upon
thinking about it, doing the National Anthem is a bit like choosing
between Jif and Skippy. You just can’t please everyone,” guitarist
Dave Welsh wrote on the band’s Twitter page following the performance.
With
two guitars, a drummer-boy drum and a tambourine, the four-piece
from Denver launched into a highly experimental version of the
National Anthem. At times, the guitars did not seem to be in synch
with each other, adding a bit of confusion to the rendition.
Guitarist Joe King said his fingers “froze.”
