Stabbing Yourself in the Neck: Interpol @ MSG on 9/14

Okay, so it's been awhile since I've posted about a show that I've been to and it's not because I haven't been to any shows recently. I failed to post about the Bishop Allen show I saw last month, Kevin Drew/Feist, NY City Opera, etc. It has, actually, been awhile since I've posted at all. [Insert generic disclaimers about busy work load, social life, and/or drama-rama here....apology apology, etc.]

But I did want to try and get back in the swing of things with my rundown of the Interpol show at the Garden last Friday night. To give you the general picture, I was correct in my earlier suspicion that I wouldn't really like Interpol at the Garden (see the Virgin Fest post) and this was due primarily to the same problem I could foresee last month from my experience at the outdoor venue: however else you want to describe them, it cannot be denied that Interpol is a band concerned with layers and timing. Thus, when they play in an open-air setting or (as was the case last week) a cavernous arena, a lot of what makes Interpol great gets lost in the mix.

Which is not to say that the show was bad: only to say that it could have been much better....had I been directly plugged in to the soundboard with headphones or something. Ha! Seriously, there is something to be said, moving beyond my main complaint, about being at a show in the Garden. It was my first show there, although not my first time there ever, and I have to say it was something! The energy there was electric for the majority of the performance and, considering that Interpol is the sort of band that doesn't do much while on-stage, that is quite a feat indeed. * The crowd was fun, the play list a great mix of new and old stuff, and the light show was pretty cool--it's been a long time since I've been seduced with Arena Rock lights, that's for sure.

Overall, I'm really glad that I went. But, to be honest, my good time was probably influenced by the company of my good friend JM and our lame attempts at seat-dancing more than anything else that night. And I have officially learned my lesson: Interpol is for the headphones and small venues. Since I don't anticipate ever being able to catch them again in the latter, I'll have to make do with the former.

Also, for a thoughtful run down of the show from a different perspective, you should check out Jon Pareles' review in the NYT. One interesting point he raises is the notion of Interpol-as-revival-front-runner. Hmmm.

* Case in point: Cat Power's opening set for this show. She also does not command much of a stage presence with respect to her movement around the stage. Unfortunately I found her performance (what I saw of it--oops!) to be a bit lack-luster: her voice was feeble at best and no match for the din of the people talking amongst themselves.

AND: Thanks to luhp on flikr for the awesome picture. I thought the elephant picture was one of the more awesome backdrops they had at the show on Friday. You can see some more Interpol pix from luhp here.