Interpol @ Hordern Pavilion, Sydney
The great thing about having pretty low expectations of a gig is that very often the band ends up surprising you. On Thursday night Interpol hit Sydney’s Hordern Pavilion (which is a shit place to see anyone, nevermind a band that should be playing dank bars) and I must say, I enjoyed the gig more than I thought I would.
It had been a few years since I’d last seen Interpol live and my interest in them has steadily dropped since the first record (which I still think is pretty friggin’ great). Upon taking the stage the band opened with one of the few songs from Our Love To Admire that I really enjoy, Pioneer To The Falls. Bathed in beautiful blue light the song filled the Hordern with just the right mix of atmosphere and intensity. The show continued on a high note with a rambunctious version of Obstacle 1 which had the whole crowd bouncing along.
I was impressed throughout the night with band’s tightness – they know how to play; the extended jam/intro on PDA was brilliant, for example. Paul Banks was also in fine voice. I seem to recall him looking a bit rough and overweight when I last saw them, but he seemed very healthy and happy on Thursday, hitting all the notes and thanking the audience in a voice that reminded me of Johnny Cash.
Most of the highlights from the set for me were, unsurprisingly, the songs from Turn On The Bright Lights. Mid-set back-to-backers Say Hello To The Angels and Hands Away were a wonderful reminder of how great this band can be. The best tracks from Antics were also given an airing to the audience’s pleasure…with Slow Hands receiving one of the loudest roars on the night.
However, the set was dampened by some absolutely poor setlist choices from Our Love To Admire. I’m not sure what possessed the band to play Rest My Chemistry and The Lighthouse back to back but I’ve never seen a crowd hit the bars and bathrooms so quickly. The Lighthouse works on the record (a bit) but on stage it just flopped flat on its face. And the only way Carlos D. could make Rest My Chemistry cool was by smoking a cigarette as he was playing bass. And while he looked like a total badass, the song just plodded along with such boredom that I found myself struggling to take any interest in it. Mostly I just watched Carlos smoke.
The crowd came screaming back into the venue when the opening notes of Evil reverberated through the Hordern and Interpol managed to grab my interest again. The end of the set was strong, in particular the encore where Interpol conceded defeat to their back catalogue and dropped three songs from their debut. The Untitled/Stella/PDA finale was fantastic and I left the venue more intrigued by the band than I have been in a few years. While their recent work leaves a lot to be desired I still hold out hope that they can reclaim past glories once again.
Setlist
Pioneer To The Falls
Obstacle 1
C’mere
Narc
Pace Is The Trick
Say Hello To The Angels
Hands Away
Mammoth
No I In Threesome
Slow Hands
Rest My Chemistry
The Lighthouse
Evil
The Heinrich Maneuver
Not Even Jail
——
Untitled
Stella Was A Diver And She Was Always Down
PDA
Apparently NYC was on the setlist as a possibility in the encore, but they went with Untitled instead. NYC would have been a highlight for sure as I love that song.
A few of my photos from the gig here.
Wayne’s review here.
