The Sound Academy’s bleak location on the edge of the harbour close to absolutely NOTHING seemed almost fitting for a band like Interpol. If I wanted to emphasise the theme of isolation even more, I went by myself.
I went early to catch what I was assured would be a hell of an opening act. Unfortunately the van carrying School of Seven Bells broke down. So we got stuck with a last minute entry called Low Level Flight. I started to feel sorry for these guys since they were filling in, but whoever thought they would mesh with a crowd of Interpol fans was clearly out of touch. It made me laugh when a disgruntled fan standing next to me said that their lead singer was none other than former Canadian Idol Ryan Malcolm. Very strange times indeed. I bided my time by watching Interpol’s roadie tune and polish all the guitars for the next set.
When Interpol finally took to the stage, they didn’t mess around. Success is the first song on their latest record and it was a good starting point for the band’s performance. Just as they established that their new material was good live, they reminded everyone why we fell in love with them in the first place and went back to Turn on the Bright Lights.
As they made their way through the set-list, I found myself thinking that I’ve never really paid close attention to the pacing of Interpol’s music. For some reason I haven’t clued in to how fast Evil is, but the lyrics are paced more than a few beats quicker than the instruments. I noticed this again with PDA. Yes the song is fast-paced on the album, but live it almost comes off as something you could dance to. On the other side, notably upbeat songs like Summer Well were actually slower in person. It’s easy to imagine how some of these songs could fall apart, but you can thank drummer Sam Fogarino for his inner metronome for making them all work.
While they were sure to play crowd pleasers like Untitled, Slow Hands, and Narc, I found it more interesting to look at what they left out. They only touched on Our Love to Admire a couple of times, really sticking with the safe picks like the Heinrich Manoeuvre. Also absent was the complete b-side to their latest record. I have to say I was disappointed to see it neglected when Try it and All of the Ways would have been a perfect songs to slow things down with. I’m sure they had their reasons to ignore them, but it was odd.
What they did play off the new album sounds great live. I loved the way they would tinker with interludes before launching into songs like Memory Serves and Barricade. As always, Paul Banks’ vocals had a chance to shine of the drawn on songs like Lights and one of my favourites, Leif Erricson.
The band was tight as ever. Gone was some of the quirky flair that Daniel Kessler showed off while playing on the last tour. But with the toned down the theatrics, there seems to be more of a focus on committing to the songs. Kessler, Banks, and Fogarino were as tight as can be and the new additions to the band thankfully work out in their favour.
Carlos D’s absence stuck out like a sore thumb. I’ll admit that I spent a lot of time focussed on new bassist David Pajo to see how he stacked up. After seeing so many wacky bass players over the years, it’s almost jarring to see one like Pejo so content with blending in with the shadows. As far as his skills on the bass go, he fits in well. Maybe he’ll add a little more in the way of stage presence as time goes on. Just worry for him if you see him rocking a pair of red suspenders.
I don’t think they could have ended the gig with a better song. After building the crowd up, they launched into the New. The way the song grows from a slow march into a frantic pitch full of emotion is one of the most cathartic ways to end a set.
I don’t hide my love of this band very well and it’s really no wonder. I can literally trace back every stage of my life for the past decade through each Interpol album. When I was figuring out what to do after high school, I was listening to Turn on the Bright Lights. One of my favourite moments while in university was sitting on a swing set at 3am listening to Public Pervert off of Antics. While living in England, I saw an ad for Our Love to Admire while in the London underground. Their latest self-titled album came out while I was in Toronto again sorting my life out. Each album has always managed to find its brooding way into my heart.
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