Interpol – 3Arena – Review
by Killian Laher

Date: Sunday – 10/11/24

It’s a little disconcerting that early 2000s acts like Interpol are now mining the classic album show route. They have been touring Europe, playing their second album, Antics, in full. The album is now 20 years old! Support came from Australian band Dust, who played a brand of brawny post-punk. The band featured a seemingly unnecessary saxophone, along with the bashed guitars and shouty vocals. Songs like New High and Joy (Guilt) were well-received by the audience, however their music was reminiscent of lots of seminal bands, without really landing on any one thing.

A show like this lacks a little spontaneity, with the album being played through in the exact sequence. For their part, Interpol didn’t fluff a note, playing the songs almost identically to the recorded versions. Though the lights and visual effects were impressive, the sound was a little muddy at times, what should have been a thrilling guitar coda to Public Pervert was a little muffled. The band seemed to relax a bit on Length of Love and a muscular version of A Time To Be So Small.

This set was followed up by a whistlestop tour of their other albums – a dirtied-up version of The Rover stood out as did the growling guitars of Lights. But it was the selections from Turn On The Bright Lights that got the best reaction. Roland and Obstacle 1 were played perfectly, while the encore consisted of The New and PDA, showing off the band’s fine interplay, the former being arguably the song of the night.

The set was flawless and certainly kept the fans happy, though it was a little slick and over-polished for some tastes. It would be interesting to see the band move in a new direction.