Interpol – Live, Edinburgh Corn Exchange, Thursday 23rd August 2007
What a weird, weird gig this was. Interpol were absolutely, note-perfectly, beat-for-beat immaculate. Honestly, it was barely possible to notice a single difference between what they played last night and the final, mastered, recorded versions you hear on their albums. This is some feat of technical accomplishment, I’d guess. And bloody impressive as it was, it makes for a really pointless gig.
Honestly, it was all so amazingly well-executed that you might just as well stay at home and watch their music videos on a really big telly. What the fuck is the point of shelling out to go to a gig if the band isn’t going to say anything, nor going to reinterpret their songs, nor even cut loose and play with a bit more venom? We got nothing from them all night. Not a thing. Nada. Zip.
To make matters worse, the sound system in the Corn Exchange was embarrassingly bad. I could have turned it up louder on my bloody stereo at home if need be, and a combination of this and the icy indifference of the band robbed the music of its life. Only the guitarist actually looked like he was enjoying playing the songs at all – the rest of them just stood there looking cool. And cool they really are. Honestly, if there are five cooler, trendier, more strikingly dapper gentlemen playing in a cooler band, making cooler music in a really incredibly cool way on the planet today then I will eat my immaculately tailored black Armani suit. They were so cool it was awe-inspiring, – it just emanated from their every pore and pose.
The problem is, for me their music is best played really, really fucking loud. The snarling guitars on Evil, the dysfunctional lament of NYC, the battering rhythms of Stella Was a Diver.. it all sounds best when turned up so fucking loud it makes your ears bleed and your neighbours think twice about calling the police because it might just actually be the apocalypse. So between the shitty sound system, turned down to sensible, and the lack of any real spirit in the performance the whole thing seemed rather tame, and more than a little pointless.
What it did do though was remind me that Interpol have written some of my favourite songs this decade. They didn’t play many of them, but Stella, which can easily be forgotten at the tail end of an album that includes masterpieces such as NYC, PDA, the Obstacles and Untitled, drove itself forcefully back into my brain. What brilliant music they can write when they really get going. I will go home and listen to them on the stereo, turned up as loud as it can manage, and never go to one of their gigs ever again.
Interpol – Stella Was a Diver and She Was Always Down
Interpol – Evil
Interpol – Pioneer to the Falls
I may whinge about automatic encores shortly as well, so feel free to get stuck into that one. It was just embarrassing – the ‘well, come on then’ sort of expectant silence.
Neither of you are making me regret being at Sonic Youth last night instead. I mean I would always have chosen SY over Interpol but it would have been nice to have heard that I missed something good to have restored a little faith.
I’ve seen them twice before and the Liquid Room gig in 2003 was bloody marvellous. The Antics tour though was less impressive although that may have been as much down to the venue (the horrible Carling Academy in Glasgow) as anything else.
There are some woeful venues in Scotland actually. The Corn Echange is abysmal, and you’re right about the Academy – shit as well.
King Tut’s is great, The Liquid Rooms is okay, and Cabaret Voltaire is a rotten venue, but they are really working at getting some good groups through there so fair play to them.
Oran Mor is beautiful, but not the best for live music, The Bongo Club is surprisingly good over here, and the two ABC venues are good, although I have been in a very empty ABC2 before, so they clearly have to sort out their booking policy.
You missed nothing at all last night.
Back in June 2004, about a month before Turn On The Bright Lights came out in the States, I saw Interpol open for Clinic at the 9:30 Club in DC and they absolutely fucking wiped Clinic off the stage. It’s funny to hear you discuss their technical proficiency because one of the things I remember best about this gig was how Paul Banks forgot the words to Stella about 1:30 seconds in and the band had to restart from the beginning. They weren’t exactly dynamic on stage, just pretty much stood there, but the guitar sound was absolutely shattering. After they finished, they just hung out in the crowd and watched Clinic, and some kids stood around chatting them up. They wore cheap, thrift store clothes and didn’t act like assholes at all.
Matthew -the best venue has got to be Barrowlands. We do need some better venues here in Scotland, question is, how do we go about doing it?!
C&B, I’m not saying they were assholes, just there was no passion in the set and no menace in the guitars. Maybe this was the fault of the venue – quite possibly in fact, although I’ve been to good gigs there before. It was just a bit like watching them on the box, that’s all.
Ah Ed, of course – I’ve not been to the Barras for longer than I care to remember. Firstly, we need a really good, intimate place: one big enough to get half decent groups in, but small enough that a half empty gig will still feel quite full – as well as one people will want to come to whether or not there’s a gig on. Secondly we need a really good booking policy. Thirdly, we have got to get a/ the students and b/ the introverted Scottish slightly intellectual/arty types involved. Fourthly, we need to actually find a way to dig out an audience in Edinburgh. And fifthly, between Cab Vol, Liquid Rooms and so on, someone here needs to do it really well and corner the market in the King Tut’s style – not a reproduction of King Tut’s, but a reinterpretation of the same basic model for Edinburghers.
Well, perhaps assholes was too strong a word. But it does seem to me that Interpol has become a bit pretentious in these last few years, and while I see nothing fundamentally wrong with musical pretentiousness, they seem sometimes to come dangerously close to that most annoying of rock affectations, i.e., the stylish auteur, moping self-consciously about the stage like Raskolnikov in his garret. It’s gotta rock, man. It’s gotta be joyful.
When I was a kid I had a cool Big Country poster on my bedroom wall advertising a show at Barrowlands. My 14-year-old brain pictured the place as a large, barn-like structure nestled between the mossy burial mounds of ancient Scottish kings, filled with pallid, earnest kids clad in flannel and exuding integrity.
Unless the word ‘neds’ entered your musings I don’t think they were too accurate!
It’s in a shitty part of town, and is more of a grand old ballroom place – the sort of place that used to be called a dance palace or some such back in the 30s. In fact, last time I was there the massive lettering on the front was still spelled out in masses of single light bulbs, although probably not anymore.
So more faded old time glamour than mystical celtic folklore.
Actually the lightbulbs are still there… C&B, imagine a faded ballroom from a Nick Cave video, faded glamour, bad part of town, yet sweating rock’n'roll. Don;t knock the sweating rock’n’ roll bit til you’ve seen it.
Oh, QMU in Glasgow’s quite good. Edinburgh Uni doesn;t really seem to put on bands at the uni, at least in six years of living here it doesn’t seem to have done. Occasional gigs at the Playhouse, but they can be expensive.
Anyone in Edinburgh actually interested in changing the status quo?? *sigh*
Genuinely, yes. If I thought I could start up some sort of small gig venue akin to King Tut’s then I’d be well up for it.
Bit of a leap from medical device design mind, but it’s something I’ve thought of for ages.
why are you going on and on about the venue being bad and not hearing a thing? it was bloody amazing in the front and the sound was really loud. actually my ears still hurt a bit.. :> quoting paul:”you are one of the most amazing crowds ever.. it’s like all the best fans all put together in one room!” i guess he meant except you guys at the back 
But that’s the thing, we weren’t especially far back. Meh. Well I’m glad someone had a good time – I was hoping for something similar myself. I’m all jealous now.
[...] Song, by Toad Interpol review (tags: review Interpol Edinburgh) [...]
i know what you mean about the corn exchange. it always manages to cast a mediocre veil over a band, no matter how good they are. the shins were similarly pedestrian the following night. and i saw interpol at t in the park and know what you mean – amazing music but no live ‘experience’ whatsoever.
hey man!
what plugin or whatever it is, is the one you are using to play your mp3 on your blog?
please let me know, congrats for the blog, and for interpol man, Rocks.
cheers.
Hi – it’s the standard Wordpress plugin – just google ‘wordpress blog audio mp3 plugin’ and that should be more than enough to find the instructions. It’s really really easy to use as well.
Nice review – I was there too and I have to say I agree. I particularly like the suggestion that “[music should be played so loud] it makes your ears bleed and your neighbours think twice about calling the police because it might just actually be the apocalypse.”!
Well, Mr. Toad, it was as you say a note-perfect gig but very little audience interaction at all. In fact the least since I saw Spritualised at that very same venue in 2002. Hmm…Own review will be over at mine very shortly.