The first time I saw Interpol was in 2004 at the “Curiosa Festival” in West Palm Beach. They played directly before The Cure in what was one of my favorite shows of all time. It was at that show that Interpol played both “Evil” and “Slow Hands” for the first time live. Nothing has been able to top that first show, and I’ve seen them every time they’ve came to town, but they came very close at their show a few weeks ago at House of Blues Orlando.
I arrived at the show fifteen minutes into Hundred Waters set due to the clusterfuck that is parking at Downtown Disney. I had heard so many great things about this Gainesville based band, so I was determined to at least catch some of their set; they remind me of an upbeat Portishead. Although I missed half their set, these guys still blew me away. I guarantee we will be hearing a lot more from this band in the near future and I will definitely be at their headlining show when they play Dr. Phillips Center in March 2015.
I was curious as to who would be playing bass for Interpol at this show. Interpol’s new album El Pintor is the band’s first album without founding bassist Carlos Dengler. In the studio, singer/guitarist Paul Banks took over bass duties on what just might be their best album in years. After Interpol hit the stage it was obvious that Banks was back on guitar and they had added a touring bassist for these shows.
They opened the show with a new song called “My Blue Supreme.” This slower song was an odd choice for an opener, but it helped set the tone for the evening. Interpol blazed through “Say Hello to the Angels,” from Turn on the Bright Lights, next and that is all it took to get the crowd going.
Interpol went back and forth playing mostly songs from their first two albums mixed with songs from El Pintor. One of the things I love about Interpol is that they always give the fans what they want. How many other bands have five albums, yet they still play nine songs off their first two albums?
With the exception of “Lights” from the 2010 album Interpol, the band steered clear of most of their material from the late 2000’s. Interpol finished their main set with a killer version of “Slow Hands” that left the crowd wanting more.
The band returned to the stage to play the first single from El Pintor, “All the Rage Back Home”. This is one of my favorite songs off the new album because it really reminds me of their older material. They closed the show with “NYC” and “Stella Was a Diver and She Was Always Down,” from Turn on the Bright Lights. There was not a better way to end this show. Interpol came to conquer the crowd and they succeeded. I’m already looking forward to their next tour.
Interpol Live Review by Trevor Bosmans.
Interpol Live Photos by Martin Cardenas.
