Interpol at Festival Hall

INTERPOL
Festival Hall, Melbourne 25/2/08
Supported by Youth Group.

Just a brief review.
Firstly, they were fantastic. I didn't know what to expect but the boys were absolutely brilliant. They played a full one hour 40 min set that covered songs from all three albums, biased slightly towards the latter two. However, their encore consisted purely of Bright Lights songs; NYC, Stella Was a Diver, PDA. Absolutely gorgeous, especially NYC.

Stand out tracks included Slow Hands, which actually people in the stalls up on their feet dancing, Evil, which is my personal favourite, was just devine. Pioneer to the Falls was brilliant also. Actually, just about every track proved to be of the highest standard. They managed to fill the expansive Festival Hall without much trouble.

Paul Banks' voice was an exact replicate of its recordings. I was surprised actually, by how unique and strong his voice is, even when he was talking, although very little of that happened. Prize for the best guitar-dancer int he indie scene definitely goes to Daniel Kessler... his dancing was absolutely mesmerising! I caught myself on more than one occasion with my mouth dangling open, eyes glued to his hypnotic back and forth dancing. How embarrassing! And he's like an energetic little puppy on stage, skittering around, annoying the cool and collected Carlos, and drummer Sam Fogarino. Ah, Carlos. The notorious man with his famous moustache and infamous reputation. Well, even where I was situated, some distance fomr the stage, and on the opposite side from him, I could still quite clearly make out his moustache, and a bleached-blonde lock of his hair.

Oh, I'd almost forgotten how Paul's voice makes me weak when he sings Evil. Listening to it live was just awesome.

Overall, an a amazing gig, a good healthy-sized set and a good crowd (and a surprising lack of store-bought indie kids as I had predicted in my Arcade Fire review).