Interpol – Live & New

Interpol brought their upcoming 'The Other Side of Make-Believe' & old classics to their Big Apple hometown at Brooklyn’s Kings Theatre...
Interpol : Live
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Photos of Interpol at Forest Hills Stadium in Queens, NY on September 7th, 2019

Photos of Interpol at 2019 Shaky Knees in Atlanta, GA

Photos of Interpol at Madison Square Garden in New York, NY on February 16th, 2018

Photos of Interpol at 2018 Riot Fest in Chicago, IL

QRO’s review of Interpol at House of Vans in Brooklyn, NY on August 24th, 2018

Photos of Interpol at 2018 British Summer Time in London, U.K.

Photos of Interpol at Forest Hills Stadium on September 23rd, 2017

Photos of Interpol at 2015 NOS Primavera Sound in Oporto, Portugal

Photos of Interpol at 2015 Shaky Knees Festival in Atlanta, GA

Photos of Interpol at Terminal 5 in New York, NY on 24th, 2014

Photos of Interpol at Stubb’s in Austin, TX on October 5th, 2014

Photos of Interpol at 2014 Austin City Limits Music Festival in Austin, TX

Photos of Interpol at 2014 FYF Fest in Los Angeles, CA

Photos of Interpol at 2014 Lollapalooza in Chicago, IL

Photos of Interpol at Thalia Hall in Chicago, IL on July 31st, 2014

Photos of Interpol at 2014 Governors Ball in New York, NY

Photos of Interpol at 2014 Field Trip Festival in Toronto, ON, Canada

Photos of Interpol at 2011 Primavera Sound Festival in Barcelona, Spain

Photos of Interpol at Terminal 5 on May 8th, 2011

Photos of Interpol at Shepherd’s Bush Empire in London, U.K. on March 23rd, 2011

Photos of Interpol at House of Blues in Boston, MA on February 19th, 2011

QRO’s review of Interpol at Radio City Music Hall in New York, NY on February 17th, 2011

Photos of Interpol at O2 Academy Brixton in London, U.K. on December 7th, 2010

Photos of Interpol at University of Liverpool in Liverpool, U.K. on December 4th, 2010

Photos of Interpol at United Palace Theatre in New York, NY on November 5th, 2010

Photos of Interpol at Music Hall of Williamsburg in Brooklyn, NY on September 10th, 2010

Photos of Interpol at House of Blues in Boston, MA on August 5th, 2010

Photos of Interpol at Toad’s Place in New Haven, CT on July 24th, 2010

Photos of Interpol at The Creators Project in New York, NY on June 26th, 2010

Photos of Interpol at Town Ballroom in Buffalo, NY on June 22nd, 2010

Photos of Interpol at Water Street Music in Rochester, NY on June 21st, 2010

Coming out of the COVID pandemic (which isn’t over, but whatever…), there’s been an urge to ‘get back to normal,’ to do the things we used to do back when Corona was just a beer (and a Minutemen track, used as theme song for Jackass). That’s extended to music, to see the acts we used to see, to be comforted by the familiar. Yet slowly but surely, we’re embracing the new in this new world, like albums that aren’t even out yet. Interpol brought their upcoming record & old classics to their Big Apple hometown at Brooklyn’s Kings Theatre on Sunday, May 15th.

Interpol started over on the Lower East Side during the alt-rock boom there at the start of this century/millennium (back before gentrification & raising rents moved the music deeper & deeper into Brooklyn). It’s now two decades since breakthrough debut Turn Out the Bright Lights, and despite some occasional dips & member losses, they’ve kept driving forward. This night, their second in a row at King’s (QRO venue review), was the final on their latest tour, before heading to Just Like Heaven Fest the next Saturday (QRO photos), Mexico City the Saturday after that, and then Europe in June.

Paul Banks

But they were playing behind July’s upcoming The Other Side of Make-Believe, their seventh full-length (where did the time go?). Like any act that ever broke through, Interpol have their late greats that everything else gets compared to, in this case Bright Lights and 2004 follow-up Antics, which were at the forefront of the aughts’ neo-New Wave movement. And yes, it was the old songs that got the biggest responses, such as all the camera phones up to make shaky, half-done videos for Bright Lights’ “Obstacle 1”. But it was neat that the old songs are still fun for the band, whether singer/guitarist Paul Banks laughing after his false start to “Obstacle”, or guitarist Daniel Kessler doing a little dance to the beat of the start of Antics’ “Evil”, before his part began. And yes, they closed with one from each of the first albums, Turn Out’s “PDA” and then Antics’ “Slow Hands” to finish.

Daniel Kessler

But there were also new songs from The Other Side of Make-Believe. New pieces such as “Fables” leaned into the slower Interpol loss, while Kessler sat down at the keys for the growing “Something Changed” and piano-led sadness of “Something Changed” (played back-to-back, probably to limit how much Kessler had to change instruments). And if those & the more pressing “Gran Hotel” weren’t received with the rapturous applause of the likes of Bright’s “The New” or “NYC”, they still got a warm response from the crowd.

[a hometown crowd, which was missing The New York Rangers’ thrilling overtime Game Seven win just over at Madison Square Garden, to advance to the second round – one fan in a Rangers Jersey did chest-bump with a security staff member by the outside bar in celebration]

If you’re going to go out – and please do, health & safety permitting – yes, you want to see your old favorites, like the indie-aughts fest that is Just Like Heaven. But also get ready for the new.

Interpol

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