Review by Stephen Byrne
Photos by Alessio Michelini
Review of Interpol at The Olympia Theatre – December 1st 2010
Interpol strode onto stage of the Olympia with military precision at exactly 9:30pm. The stage design of industrial piping and massive 30’s style spotlights complemented by overwhelming amounts of dry-ice that make it almost impossible to see the band.
Heavily back lit by flashing lights, five silhouettes just manage, to protrude the mist. This is a band who definitely want the audience to concentrate on what they are playing rather than what they are wearing.
First song Success one of only 4 songs from Interpol’s latest album, slightly underwhelmed the expectant crowd. Say Hello To The Angels quickly gets things in gear. Paul Banks voice cuts crisply through the mist, note perfect on every song. The crowd go wild from the very first note of Daniel Kessler’s guitar on Narc and are swept along by Length of Love.
Summer Well takes things down a notch before Rest My Chemistry’s guitar riff, whips the crowd back into a frenzy. The stage dressing, perfectly suits the shoe gazing NYC. This however is a momentary lull, as breakthrough hit Slow Hands hits the moshing switch. Cue mass hysteria, which continues through C’mere and Leif Erikson.
Barricade the first single from Interpol’s self titled new album, is the best received of the new material so far. Bass driven hit Evil, as with Slow Hands, brings focus upon who is not on stage, rather than who is, but Interpol’s former “Mr Cool” Carlos Denglor’s replacement David Pajo proves more thank capable of filling the void, on bass at least.
The excellent Not Even Jail, brings the first section of the show to a blistering close. A quick water break later Interpol return to the stage with the epic shoe gazer Untitled.Interpol dismount the evening, heads held high, with hardcore fan favourite PDA ringing in the ears of the audience as they return to the treacherous conditions outside. An evening worth every red cent.
