By Jase Walker
Alright so I’m gonna preface this by saying that this particular show is my 100th gig of 2024. I don’t think this could have landed on a more special show for me than Interpol’s ‘Antics’ anniversary either, easily one of my favourite albums ever and I get to see this album in its entirety. It’s been almost 20 years since I saw Interpol at Leeds Festival in 2005 (?), so time to get myself some teenage me feelings.
Along for the ride on this tour is Dust, hailing from Australia and starting bright and early for this evening just 30 mins after doors. These really strike me as remarkably similar to FAT DOG in how their sound fuses indie rock with shoegaze elements, all bundled into a dreamy wall of noise but with a still pretty high degree of energy. It’s a pretty interesting sound that I’ve noticed appears to be taking a lot of the well-trodden paths of the likes of Joy Division, The Smiths, and the like and adds in a huge degree of saturation and layering to create a sound that *should* be a bit more muddied and muffled but it just… isn’t?
Similar to their headlining counterparts, Interpol and to some degree The Editors, their guitars are rich in reverb and delay that’s put to use with heavy tremolo playing to add in a sound that’s all too familiar with post rock fans. Mixing this element with a constant driving rhythm from the bass and drums and some fantastic melodic elements from the saxophone creates this wonderfully textured listening experience.
They’ve seemingly chosen to avoid speaking to the audience too much other than one or two moments, but I suppose they’re adhering to the concept of getting as much of their material as possible out as the opener. I feel like these are a fantastic choice as an opener for a band like Interpol, they’ve clearly been inspired by them but have their own interesting spin on post-punk.
Great sound, great set, thoroughly enjoyed them. Also, whoever was doing their lighting has done a brilliant job, you’d think they were the headliners too with production of that quality.
A bit later than expected, it’s time for Interpol. These album tours often seem to have different flows to them, some bands opt to intersperse it between the rest of the set, some opt to front load it and play bangers after, others have “first, second act” – so let’s see how Interpol does it eh?
In this case it’s opting to get the album going immediately with ‘Next Exit’, phones quickly pop up across the audience as everyone wants to catch the start of the show in their own way. And thanks to the flow of the album, the second track in is one of their biggest numbers, ‘Evil’, but that’s just how it goes with album playthroughs, although I have seen the odd band take that sort of song and skip it until the end of the set. It’s also pretty amusing how some songs get bigger cheers almost as if the crowd totally didn’t expect the next song on the album to be the one that gets played next.
As we blast through this album, I genuinely forgot that it’s not actually that long despite the quality of it as I feel the shows barely started and we barrel along from ‘Take You On A Cruise’ into my outright favourite Interpol song, ‘Slow Hands’. This somewhat disco-esque song fully gets the crowd moving and bouncing around so it’s clearly a favourite amongst the crowd too.
‘Not Even Jail’ as the follow-up shows the strong pacing of this particular album too. There have been so many awesome full album shows I’ve seen this year and seeing Interpol hammer out Antics has been a real treat for my 16 year old self. It’s very typical of Interpol to have such a stripped back production that’s used effectively also. Besides the main lighting the only other real part of it is some huge disco balls with unusual patterning that are frequently blasted with a crazy strong light that produces some lovely, scattered beams. Another big single of theirs from Antics gets another big reaction from the crowd, ‘C’mere’, but this also signals that were almost done with the album run now!
‘A Time To Be Small’ signs off the end of the album run segment of this show. Clocking in at more or less bang on 45 minutes, the band retires briefly for a breather before we continue on with the next part of the show.
Admittedly I am not as familiar with the newer material as I am with Antics given it’s been a mainstay album of my life for years now. It’s worth noting that while the crowd is definitely enjoying it they don’t seem quite as enthused as they were for the Antics songs. For what it’s worth though, Interpol are still putting everything on the line for a fantastic show. The intensity of the light show has ramped up massively and the newer songs come off as much more energetic for the most part than a decent chunk of Antics. Although the moment the encore hits suddenly that energy is back again in full force as people cheer loudly and start dancing away again.
And with that, this wraps up my 100th show of 2024 and adds another great entry into my list of albums I’ve seen played live in its entirety. Interpol are still going every bit as strong as they ever have and they’ve clearly made a night to remember for the crowd as well. There are no gimmicks here, no outrageous live stunts or the like, just a band that has a back catalogue of fantastic and memorable music hammering out a fat setlist of some of their best material. Great show.
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