Friday, September 28, 2007

Concert Review: Interpol

By Kenneth Smith of 2K7 Photography

"Show Me The Dirt Pile, and I will pray that the soul can take..."

Those were the lyrics that resonated throughout what had to be a sold out Palladium Ballroom on Thursday night as New York's Interpol opened their set. It was the first track from their new album Our Love to Admire called "Pioneer to the Falls" and was welcomed with screams that echoed around the venue. The stage setup was very eye-catching. There was a solid white backdrop that doubled as a projection screen. Sitting on the stage, were multiple, symmetrically-placed stands that had 2-foot by 2-foot white squares at the top, and what looked to be about 3-foot long, 6-inch wide vertical LED Lights under the squares. These light setups made for a very interesting visual as the vertical lights at times resembled an equalizer display, rising up and down with the music. The squares not only worked as part of the projection setup, but also had LED lights of their own behind the white paper that covered them.

The show was draped in mostly back lit format, creating a silhouette effect that worked very well with the mellow style of music. The colorful, ambient lighting complimented the mood quite well. The crowd, that I would describe as mostly what seemed to be college-aged and quite well behaved (in comparison to most shows I attend) sang along with every song, at times overpowering vocalist Paul Banks.

This was my first Interpol show and I have to say that this band truly puts a lot into their live show. The sound was nothing short of phenomenal. Everything seemed to be perfectly on queue and performed flawlessly. Mid-way through the set, they played the huge hit "Evil" immediately followed by their newest single "Heinrich Maneuver". This was definitely the most exciting part for most in attendance as I saw multiple groups of people yelling in excitement and even dancing around.

After finishing "Not Even Jail", the band made a quick exit from the stage and following a couple minutes of the audience chanting "INTERPOL", they re-emerged for an encore that included 2 songs. Last to be performed was "PDA" from the "Turn on the Bright Lights" album. The crowd (as they had all night) sang along as the ending was drawn out into a long closing that ended with with the perfect show-ending lyrics "Sleep tight, grim rite, we have two-hundred couches where you can.. sleep tonight...". Banks then politely thanked the Dallas fans and quickly exited the stage as he smoked a cigarette. Between the mood-matching lights and stage setup, the mellow choir-esque crowd, and the exceptional performance by the band, I would rate this show a 10 out of 10 and can't wait to see Interpol again (hopefully sooner than later).

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