Interpol Photo Gallery

Interpol have such affinity with Australian audiences that they have returned for another whirlwind tour to celebrate the release of their third long player Our Love To Admire. Despite all the goings on in Adelaide with the Fringe Festival, Clipsal 500 and other international acts passing through it was a solid turn out at Thebarton Theatre. All the punters that turned out would not have disappointed with what was put before them.

Having said that I can see why they aren’t the most popular band in the world as they are an acquired taste and definitely not all things to all people. The East Coast got Youth Group as a support and in Adelaide we got lumbered with Leader Cheetah … again. No disrespect to these lads but they seem to pop up as a support act far too often and while their jangly Neil Young inspired brand of music didn’t strike accord with me, they received reasonable applause from the ever growing audience

After the hour long set from the support act it was time for Interpol to hit the stage and reaffirm to fans how great a band they are. Their music is dark, enchanting and intense and I couldn’t think of a better venue to compliment their show. In a midst of a red and blue lighting haze Paul, Daniel, Carlos and Sam emerged to kick things off with Pioneer To The Falls. Wow! What an introduction and it’s like cop that Adelaide.

Rapturous applause followed as the band launched in to Obstacle 1 and Paul Banks has the most unique vocal style going round. Popular hits by way of NARC and C’mere kept the excitement going. Say Hello To The Angels kicked the pace of the show up another gear increasing the intensity to fever pitch.

There wasn’t a lot of interaction with the crowd and there isn’t a lot of stage presence either, which may actually be their stage presence. It is clear that the aim of the game to deliver a – œperfect’ show with pin point accuracy and everything else has its place. Paul did mention that despite the short stay that they have enjoyed our fair – œole city.

With three great albums under the belt the band now has an abundance of riches to choose from. No I In Threesome and Slow Hands were just superb and the guitar mastery of Daniel Kessler is just a treat to watch. The highlight of their set for me was The Lighthouse where Banks sings haunting rhythms over the top of Kessler jangly guitar lines. At this point, if I could scream like a school girl I probably would.

The encore was a triple barrelled hit machine with NYC, Stella Was A Diver And She Was Always Down and PDA to close out a memorable night. As the crowd made their way out discussions went on about all the songs they could have played but didn’t – take nothing away from Interpol, they were fucking brilliant.