Interpol – Olympia Theatre – Live Review – 18/11/18 – by Killian Laher

Fifteen or so years on after their heyday, Interpol still manage to play three pretty much sold out shows in the Olympia, a fact that feels a little surprising.  Nilufer Yanya played support, a female-fronted with band who featured a prominent saxophone player.  The end result was a bit like a cross between Florence and the Machine and eighties songstress Sade, and didn’t really engage the crowd.

It was clear Interpol had come to party.  Rather than focusing on their latest album Marauder, their set leant heavily on their first two albums.  Opening with Untitled, they belted through many of the faster tracks from Turn On The Bright Lights and Antics, songs like C’mere, PDA and Say Hello To The Angels were dusted off and played flawlessly, backed by an intense light show.

Newer songs from Marauder received almost as good a reaction as older material, and If You Really Love Nothing and Complications fitted in well with the older material.  It wasn’t all fast-paced, slower tracks Hands Away and NYC were also aired.  While the band sounded great, singer Paul Banks was at times lost in the mix, but the crowd didn’t mind.  After finishing their set with Evil, they returned to turn up the dial even more for the encore, finishing with a rousing Slow Hands.

Were they fully convincing?  The band sometimes appear robotic, almost mercilessly perfect as they perform their material, perhaps a little more soul wouldn’t go astray?  But it was hard not to be carried along by the overall good atmosphere, and the boys can definitely play live.

Set List –

Interlude 2
Untitled
C’mere
If You Really Love Nothing
Public Pervert
Hands Away
Complications
PDA
Say Hello to the Angels
NYC
The Rover
Rest My Chemistry
NYSMAW
Lights
All the Rage Back Home
Flight of Fancy
Evil

Encore –
Pioneer to the Falls
Length of Love
Slow Hands