1,282 INTERPOL, Water From Our Eyes, Bristol O2 Academy, Thursday 1st June 2023

 

An odd one, this, from NYC post-punk guitar gloom merchants Interpol, back in my “live” crosshairs after a 5-year absence, which itself followed an absence of over 13 years… Interpol and the sadly missed Stellastarr* were easily the 2 most promising bands to emerge from a very fertile New York post-punk rock scene in the early 2000’s (Strokes? Shmrokes…), their sophomore 2004 effort “Antics” finding particular favour with me due to its’ dark, Bunnyesque atmospherics and sweeping drama, and giving me cause (after a fine set at this very venue in December 2004, gig 649) to proclaim them a truly important and influential band for this new Millennium. Their subsequent releases unfortunately proved to be anything but, to the point that I wasn’t really expecting much from their appearance on the Cure Hyde Park gig undercard in 2018 (gig 1,095). They however were the most pleasant surprise of that day, delivering a strident and sparkling performance, and I’ve at least enjoyed their subsequent couple of albums, whilst still acknowledging they’re not up to “Antics” standards. I was more intrigued than keen, therefore, when Stuart mentioned this one to me, but sorted tix anyway. Let’s see what this now-veteran band are still capable of “live”…

Stu picked me up at 6 and we hit the road for a sun-bathed drive down, joining the O2 Priority queue as it funnelled in and grabbing a barrier spot, house right. Result! Chatted away the time until openers Water From Our Eyes at 7.45. An NYC duo, they took “discordant” to a whole other level, a total random mess of taped beatbox and sheet metalwork noise, overlaid with shards of guitar and monotone female vocals, as if “Metal Machine Music”-era Lou Reed and early Laurie Anderson had actually had a kid, although nowhere near as cool as that sounds… Just as I was about to file them with the likes of Merz, Th’ Faith Healers and Russian Caravan as truly awful supports, they actually played a decent song, Summery, lilting and a little throwaway but still a zillion times better than before, and their subsequent material was more coherent, recalling the muddled moroseness of Viet Cong. It still felt less of a set, more an experimental art installation; they’re no doubt deeply hip in NYC art circles but, a better ending aside, I was glad when they were done!

A more difficult than expected return from a comfort break still saw me back in position for 9: a busy one, this, and a surprisingly young crowd… Interpol then took the stage to a mysterious white backlit strobe, however their insular and claustrophobic opener “Toni” was unfortunately dominated from the off by overpowering growling bass, with vocalist Paul Banks’ voice utterly submerged and indecipherable in the mix. Uh oh… Oldie “Obstacle 1” was an utter mess, the mix muddled and still bass-dominated, an early “Narc”’s staccato guitar riffery then overpowered the sound, the stripped-back, dubby mid-section the only time the mix sounded balanced, and “C’Mere” honestly sounded to me as if Banks and fellow guitarist Daniel Kessler were playing different songs, one guitar pattern actually sounding rather off-key too…

 

It took until Evil”, 8^th (!) number in, for the sound to even approach a balanced mix, its’ seething urgency and dynamic building chorus comfortably the set highlight, with Banks’ haunting, robotic vocals thankfully a little more audible, if still way too low in the mix. “If they’d got that wrong, I’d have just gone into the toilet to cry for the rest of the set,” I remarked to Stu afterwards! Thereafter things thankfully improved, with “All The Rage Back Home” a bombastic hurtling car chase of a song, the less overtly guitar-heavy “Take You On A Cruise” clear and balanced, and the strident punkish catapult twang of “Roland” highlights amongst some indifferent and morose bedfellows. The taut elasticity and bleak staccato pinprick guitar of “PDA” ended a proper Curate’s Egg of a set, the sound variable at best (and utter shite at worst), the band aloof and taciturn (Banks’ one comment about Bristol being beautiful – “I had a lovely day [here]” – notwithstanding).

 A 3 song encore featuring the haunting build of “Lights” to a widescreen wall of sound which thankfully stayed just the right side of discordant, a plaintive and rather lovely actually “No I In Threesome”, and closer “Slow Hands” which again sadly suffered from the mix, rounded off proceedings. Persistence paid off with the keyboard player’s list, then Stu and I hit the road debating this performance. As I said, an odd one, this, and a tough one to write up too. Like the girl with the curl, when this set was good (e.g. “Evil”, “Roland” and “No I In Threesome”) it was absolutely splendid, but when it was bad (most of the first 7 numbers, and bits and bobs thereafter sadly) it was very poor, either bass or guitar dominated, the sound unbalanced and with Paul Banks’ vocals either too quiet or utterly absent throughout. I’d so hoped for better from Interpol tonight, but after this performance, don’t be surprised if they’re off my gig radar for another 5 years or more…