Interpol - New York Bowery Ballroom - 10/10/04
5/5
By: Nicole Spector
Tonight is a gift for all us New Yorkers who, along with cheering on the growing recognition and acclaim of Interpol, have become, maybe, just a bit worried - a bit concerned that our favorite band is slipping up and out of grasp into empyrean spotlight.
Vast venues, number one lists, and magazine covers can be intimidating factors when less than two years ago this band was headlining at the modest Bowery Ballroom, honoring the lower east side scene, standing out boldly from the rest - but still standing near. Now, just a couple weeks after the release of 'Antics' - an album that more than keeps the promise of 'Turn on the Bright Lights', with technique so rich and developed, it is less a sequential continuation as it is an excelling beyond presumed potential - they are paying a spectacular revisit to one of their earliest playgrounds, the Bowery ballroom.
At around 10:30 they step onstage - uniformed as usual - for a smart, black tie event hosted by none other than Kraftwerk. They begin at once with 'Next Exit', the opening track of 'Antics'. Paul Banks' voice is more resonant than ever before, and the song is stupendously gorgeous - rising out of chords that are somewhat antique in their beauty, carrying the warm, familiar glow of old love songs.
'Obstacle 1' is quick to follow - a sinister blend of grilling, jabbing guitar, with drums rolling through, periodically taking over. Justice is served to both albums, as both share the set, neck and neck. Included in the mix are 'Evil', 'Say Hello to the Angels', 'Slow Hands', and a dedicatory 'NYC'. Each man keeps his controlled, grounded posture, smoking no-hands cigarettes throughout the set. And what a set -
precise, hypnotic - each live performance mirrors the album versions, calculative of the original complexity and euphoria.
And the show is not only something of a serious occasion for the audience, it's serious for Interpol - and it's likely that every show is. Like the attitude of the songs - tensely melodic, intellectually danceable - there is an air of pensiveness, of solemn depth to this good time. Though, this isn't to say that Paul Banks does not wear at times a most earnest smirk, deeply relishing his Fedora (saved especially for the encore), or that Carlos, half-man, half-crow, does not have a fiendish blast playing his bass high up in the air, over his head and following it's movements like an entranced snake.
More than any in a long time, it's a shame to see this show end. The secret's been let out, blown up, and authenticated - and it doesn't look like these guys will be playing here again anytime soon. And while this too is strangely and beautifully solemn, it doesn't steal from the hereness, the nowness, and all the rising glory we have to look forward to with this band.
Artists in this article: Interpol
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